Borrowing to keep up (with the joneses) : inequality, debt, and conspicuous consumption / Sheheryar Banuri, Ha Nguyen
Contributor(s): Resource type: Ressourcentyp: Buch (Online)Book (Online)Language: English Series: World Bank E-Library Archive | Policy research working paper ; 9354Publisher: [Washington, DC, USA] : World Bank Group, Middle East and North Africa Region, Office of the Chief Economist, August 2020Description: 1 Online-Ressource (circa 35 Seiten) : IllustrationenSubject(s): Genre/Form: Additional physical formats: Erscheint auch als: Borrowing to Keep up (with the Joneses): Inequality, Debt, and Conspicuous Consumption. Druck-Ausgabe Washington, D.C : The World Bank, 2020DOI: DOI: 10.1596/1813-9450-9354Online resources: Summary: The quest for status is a powerful motivator, but does it affect inequality? This paper presents a novel lab experiment that was designed and conducted to identify the relationship between inequality, status signaling, debt, and conspicuous consumption. It reports three main findings: First, consumption increases when it is "conspicuous" (i.e. is both observable, and signals ability/status). Second, borrowing increases when consumption is conspicuous. More critically, this increase in loan-taking is driven by those at the bottom of the income distribution. Third, in the presence of conspicuous consumption, access to finance exacerbates inequality. The results point to a vicious cycle of inequality and costly borrowingPPN: PPN: 173593545XPackage identifier: Produktsigel: ZDB-110-WBL | ZDB-1-WBA | ZDB-110-WBONo physical items for this record
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