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Thy Neighbor's Misfortune: Peer Effect on Consumption

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  • Sumit Agarwal
  • Wenlan Qian
  • Xin Zou

Abstract

Using a large, representative sample of credit and debit card transactions in Singapore, this paper studies the consumption response of individuals whose same-building neighbors experienced personal bankruptcy. The unique bankruptcy rules in Singapore suggest liquidity shocks drive personal bankruptcy decisions, leading to a substantial drop in consumption for the bankrupt. Peers' monthly card consumption decreases by 3.4 percent over the 1-year postbankruptcy period. There exists no consumption decrease among individuals in immediately adjacent buildings nor for consumers with diminished postevent social ties with the bankrupt. The findings imply a significant social multiplier effect of 2.8 times the original consumption shock.

Suggested Citation

  • Sumit Agarwal & Wenlan Qian & Xin Zou, 2021. "Thy Neighbor's Misfortune: Peer Effect on Consumption," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 1-25, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:1-25
    DOI: 10.1257/pol.20170634
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ori Heffetz, 2011. "A Test of Conspicuous Consumption: Visibility and Income Elasticities," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(4), pages 1101-1117, November.
    2. Bagwell, Laurie Simon & Bernheim, B Douglas, 1996. "Veblen Effects in a Theory of Conspicuous Consumption," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 349-373, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Agarwal, Sumit & Koo, Kang Mo & Qian, Wenlan, 2022. "Consumption response to temporary price shock: Evidence from Singapore's annual sale event," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    2. Rhys Murrian & Paul A. Raschky & Klaus Ackermann, 2024. "Friends, Key Players and the Adoption and Use of Experience Goods," Monash Economics Working Papers 2024-17, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    3. Aristide Houndetoungan & Abdoul Haki Maoude, 2024. "Inference for Two-Stage Extremum Estimators," Papers 2402.05030, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2024.
    4. Guillermo Alves & Martín Leites & Gonzalo Salas, 2022. "See it to believe it. Experimental evidence on status good consumption among the youth," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 22-12, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    5. Li, Teng & Qian, Wenlan & Xiong, Wei A. & Zou, Xin, 2022. "Employee output response to stock market wealth shocks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 779-796.
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    7. Maria De Paola & Roberto Nisticò & Vincenzo Scoppa, 2024. "Workplace Peer Effects in Fertility Decisions," CSEF Working Papers 714, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    8. Sumit Agarwa & Yongheng Deng & Quanlin Gu & Jia He & Wenlan Qian & Yuan Ren, 2022. "Mortgage Debt, Hand-to-Mouth Households, and Monetary Policy Transmission [Policy intervention in debt renegotiation: evidence from the home affordable modification program]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 26(3), pages 487-520.
    9. David Boto-García & Alvaro Muñiz-Fernández & Levi Pérez, 2024. "Windfall money and outbound tourism: A natural experiment from lottery winnings," Tourism Economics, , vol. 30(5), pages 1257-1280, August.
    10. Noam Gruber, 2023. "A relative answer to the growth–saving puzzle," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 139-171, August.
    11. Pirmin Fessler & Severin Rapp, 2023. "The subjective wealth distribution: How it arises and why it matters to inform policy? (Pirmin Fessler, Severin Rapp)," Working Papers 249, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank).
    12. Leites, Martín & Rivero, Analía & Salas, Gonzalo, 2024. "The positionality of goods and the positional concern’s origin," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    13. Yuxia Song & Yongxi Chen, 2024. "Between restriction and protection: the experience, problems, and improvement path of judicial recognition of personal bankruptcy exempt property in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    14. Einar C. Kjenstad & Anil Kumar, 2022. "The effect of real estate prices on peer firms," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1022-1053, December.
    15. Arzi Adbi & Matthew Lee & Jasjit Singh, 2024. "Community influence on microfinance loan defaults under crisis conditions: Evidence from Indian demonetization," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 535-563, March.
    16. Di, Wenhua & Su, Yichen, 2024. "Conspicuous consumption: Vehicle purchases by non-prime consumers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 895-914.
    17. Mingdi Wang & Biao Luo, 2024. "Research Progress of Peer Effects in Consumption Based on CiteSpace Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-22, July.
    18. D’Acunto, Francesco & Rossi, Alberto G. & Weber, Michael, 2024. "Crowdsourcing peer information to change spending behavior," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    19. Fessler, Pirmin & Rapp, Severin, 2024. "The Subjective Wealth Distribution: How it Arises and Why it Matters to Inform Policy?," SocArXiv 3x4jh, Center for Open Science.
    20. Aristide Houndetoungan & Abdoul Haki Maoude, 2024. "Inference for Two-Stage Extremum Estimators," THEMA Working Papers 2024-01, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    21. Jiafeng Gu, 2024. "Peer influence, market power, and enterprises' green innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 108-121, January.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
    • K35 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Personal Bankruptcy Law

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