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Keeping up with the Joneses and the welfare effects of monetary policy

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  • Tervala, Juha

Abstract

This paper examines the implications of “keeping up with the Joneses” preferences (jealousy) for the welfare effects of monetary policy. I develop a New Keynesian model, where households are jealous and the central bank follows the Taylor rule. I show that the welfare effects of monetary policy over time depend significantly on the relative strength of the consumption externality caused by jealousy and the monopolistic distortion. When a first-order approximation of the utility function is used, then the main result is the following: If jealousy (the monopolistic distortion) dominates, then a decrease in the interest rate reduces (increases) welfare in the short run, but increases (reduces) welfare in the medium run. However, the use of a second-order approximation changes the sign of the overall welfare effect of monetary policy if the initial level of employment is at the optimal level or just below it.

Suggested Citation

  • Tervala, Juha, 2012. "Keeping up with the Joneses and the welfare effects of monetary policy," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 104-111.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:33:y:2012:i:1:p:104-111
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2011.08.014
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Monetary policy; Jealousy; Consumption externality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E50 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - General
    • E60 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - General

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