Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/192222 
Year of Publication: 
1998
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Papers No. 239
Publisher: 
Statistics Norway, Research Department, Oslo
Abstract: 
Hirsch (1976) suggested that as consumption grows, an increasing proportion of the benefits people derive from consumption is due to a status effect. Status is a relative concept that cannot be increased on average; thus it may seem reasonable to expect that as consumption grows, the marginal benefits of consumption decrease more than the marginal benefits of status. In equilibrium, however, there will be price effects that may more than outweigh this effect. Thus, there is no a priori reason to expect more status-seeking behavior in richer societies.
Subjects: 
Status-seeking
relative consumption
JEL: 
D11
D50
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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