Does envy destroy social fundamentals? The impact of relative income position on social capital

Justina A. V. Fischer and Benno Torgler

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Research evidence on the impact of relative income position on individual attitudes and behaviour is sorely lacking. Therefore, this paper assesses such positional impact on social capital by applying 14 different measurements to International Social Survey Programme data from 25 countries. We find support for a positional concern effect or ‘envy’ whose magnitude in several cases is quite substantial. The results indicate that such an effect is non-linear. In addition, we find an indication that absolute income level is also relevant. Lastly, changing the reference group (regional versus national) produces no significant differences in the results.

Keywords: Relative income position; envy; positional concerns; social capital; social norms; happiness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D00 D60 H26 I31 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50 pages
Date: 2006-02
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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/6640/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: DOES ENVY DESTROY SOCIAL FUNDAMENTALS? THE IMPACT OF RELATIVE INCOME POSITION ON SOCIAL CAPITAL (2006)
Working Paper: Does Envy Destroy Social Fundamentals? The Impact of Relative Income Position on Social Capital (2006)
Working Paper: Does Envy Destroy Social Fundamentals? The Impact of Relative Income Position on Social Capital (2006)
Working Paper: Does Envy Destroy Social Fundamentals? The Impact of Relative Income Position on Social Capital (2006)
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