Social capital and relative income concerns: evidence from 26 countries

Justina A. V. Fischer and Benno Torgler ()

University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2007 from Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen

Abstract: Research evidence on the impact of relative income position on individuals’ attitudes and behaviour is sorely lacking. Therefore, using the International Social Survey Programme 1998 data from 26 countries this paper investigates the impact of relative income on 14 measurements of social capital. We find support for a considerable deleterious positional concern effect of persons below the reference income. This effect is more sizeable by far than the beneficial impact of a relative income advantage. Most of the results indicate that such an effect is non-linear. Lastly, changing the reference group (regional versus national) produces no significant differences in the results.

Keywords: Relative income; positional concerns; social capital; social norms; happiness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 I30 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 66 pages
Date: 2007-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ltv and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Social Capital and Relative Income Concerns: Evidence from 26 Countries (2008)
Working Paper: Social Captial and Relative Income Concerns: Evidence from 26 Countries (2007)
Working Paper: Social Capital and Relative Income Concerns: Evidence from 26 Countries (2007)
Working Paper: Social Capital And Relative Income Concerns: Evidence From 26 Countries (2007)
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