The Spirit of Capitalism and Stock-Market Prices

Gurdip Bakshi and Zhiwu Chen
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Gurdip Bakshi: Department of Economics and Finance, University of New Orleans

No 511, CEMA Working Papers from China Economics and Management Academy, Central University of Finance and Economics

Abstract: In existing theory, wealth is no more valuable than its implied consumption rewards. In reality investors acquire wealth not just for its implied consumption, but for the resulting social status. Max M. Weber refers to this desire for wealth as the spirit of capitalism. We examine, both analytically and empirically, implications of Weber's hypothesis for consumption, savings, and stock prices. When investors care about relative social status, propensity to consume and risktaking behavior wvildl epend on social standards, and stock prices will be volatile. The spirit of capitalism seems to be a driving force behind stock-market volatility and economic growth.

JEL-codes: G1 G10 G12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26 pages
Date: 1996
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (214)

Published in The American Economic Review, Vol. 86, No. 1 (Mar., 1996), pp. 133-157

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cuf:wpaper:511

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