Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/34002 
Year of Publication: 
2006
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 2169
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper considers the effect of status or relative income on work effort combining experimental evidence from a gift-exchange game with ISSP survey data. We find a consistent negative effect of others' incomes on individual effort in both datasets. The individual's rank in the income distribution is a stronger determinant of effort than others' average income, suggesting that comparisons are more ordinal than cardinal. We then show that effort is also affected by comparisons over time: those who received higher income offers or had higher income rank in the past exert lower levels of effort for a given current income and rank.
Subjects: 
effort
comparison income
rank
peak-end
experiments
JEL: 
M54
J33
A13
C92
D63
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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