Year: 2004
Type: article
Abstract: If individuals care about their status, defined as their rank in the distribution of consumption of one “positional” good, then the consumer's problem is strategic as her utility depends on the consumption choices of others. In the symmetric Nash equilibrium, each individual spends an inefficiently high amount on the status good. Using techniques from auction theory, we analyze the effects of exogenous changes in the distribution of income. In a richer society, almost all individuals spend more on conspicuous consumption, and individual utility is lower at each income level. In a more equal society, the poor are worse off.
Source: American Economic Review
Authors: Ed Hopkins, Tatiana Kornienko
Institutions: University of Stirling, University of Edinburgh
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3123772258