Consumption and social identity: Evidence from India

Melanie Khamis (), Nishith Prakash and Zahra Siddique

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2012, vol. 83, issue 3, 353-371

Abstract: We examine spending on consumption items which have signaling value in social interactions across groups with distinctive social identities in India, where social identities are defined by caste and religious affiliations. Using nationally representative micro data on household consumption expenditures, we find that disadvantaged caste groups such as Other Backward Castes spend 8 percent more on visible consumption than Brahmin and High Caste groups while social groups such as Muslims spend 14 percent less, after controlling for differences in permanent income, household assets and household demographic composition. The differences across social groups are significant and robust and these differences persist within different sub populations. We find that the higher spending of OBC households on visible consumption is diverted from education spending, while Muslim households divert spending from visible consumption and education towards greater food spending. Additionally, we find that these consumption patterns can be partly explained as a result of the status signaling nature of the consumption items. We also discuss alternative sources of differences in consumption patterns across groups which stem from religious observance.

Keywords: Households; Consumption; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D70 O10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (41)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Consumption and Social Identity: Evidence From India (2012)
Working Paper: Consumption and Social Identity: Evidence from India (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:83:y:2012:i:3:p:353-371

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2012.07.002

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