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Wedding Celebrations as Conspicuous Consumption : Signaling Social Status in Rural India

Author

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  • Bloch, Francis

    (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES))

  • Rao, Vijayendra

    (The World Bank, Development Research Group)

  • Desai, Sonalde

    (University of Maryland)

Abstract

We examine the determinants of expenditures on wedding celebrations by rural Indian families. Fieldwork, using open-ended interviews and focus group discussions in two villages in Karnataka State in Southern India, suggests that wedding celebrations are to a large extent a signal of social status. Using this information we develop a signaling model of wedding celebrations where the size of the celebration signals the quality of the new groom's family and thus the enhanced social status of the bride's family. Predictions from the model are then tested with survey data from 5 districts in Karnataka using variations in norms of village exogamy as a natural experiment to identify the availability of information on the groom's family to the bride's village. The idea is that when families have to marry grooms outside the village, members of the bride's village will have less information on the groom thus increasing the incentive for the bride's family to signal the groom's quality. The econometric results largely mirror the theoretical predictions.

Suggested Citation

  • Bloch, Francis & Rao, Vijayendra & Desai, Sonalde, 1999. "Wedding Celebrations as Conspicuous Consumption : Signaling Social Status in Rural India," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 1999022, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    • Handle: RePEc:ctl:louvir:1999022
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