Social Comparison and Wealth Inequality in a Leveraged Asset Market

Cary Deck (), Li Hao, Weineng Xu and Timothy J. Yeager

Journal of Behavioral Finance, 2021, vol. 22, issue 4, 382-402

Abstract: We hypothesize that upward social comparison of asset holdings among traders exacerbates leveraged asset bubbles because traders shift their frame of reference from profit maximization toward quantity maximization, increasing price momentum. In addition, asset prices should inflate even more in markets with wealth inequality because the relative reference shift becomes stronger. We test this theory within the standard asset market experiment environment, where we introduce the ability to borrow using leverage and treatments encouraging social comparison and manipulation of wealth inequality. We find that social comparison leads to asset overpricing, and its impact is the greatest when combined with wealth inequality. On the other hand, wealth inequality alone does not lead to greater asset price bubbles. These findings are consistent with housing market patterns prior to the financial crisis.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1080/15427560.2020.1786092

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