IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/inrvec/v67y2020i4d10.1007_s12232-020-00357-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Competing to belong and working to pay for it: a socioeconomic model of the link between productivity and work-life balance

Author

Listed:
  • Dimitry Rtischev

    (Gakushuin University)

Abstract

I model and simulate an increasingly productive labor economy in which heterogeneous agents choose how much to work, how much to consume, and where to belong. The agents like to belong to “clubs” (e.g., neighborhoods, schools, workplaces) which are formed, quality-ranked, and priced endogenously. I examine the effect of productivity gains, paid out either through wage hikes or universal income grants, on club prices, leisure time, and consumption. I find that income grants are more prone than wage hikes to be dissipated in the bidding to join the “better” clubs. The findings imply that socioeconomic competition channeled through market institutions may hinder the translation of productivity growth into better work-life balance.

Suggested Citation

  • Dimitry Rtischev, 2020. "Competing to belong and working to pay for it: a socioeconomic model of the link between productivity and work-life balance," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 67(4), pages 533-548, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:inrvec:v:67:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s12232-020-00357-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s12232-020-00357-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12232-020-00357-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12232-020-00357-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frank, Robert H, 1985. "The Demand for Unobservable and Other Nonpositional Goods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 101-116, March.
    2. Dimitry Rtischev, 2018. "Labor-Leisure Choice and Relative Income Concerns in the Shadow of the Housing Market," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(3), pages 869-890, July.
    3. Gauvin, Laetitia & Vignes, Annick & Nadal, Jean-Pierre, 2013. "Modeling urban housing market dynamics: Can the socio-spatial segregation preserve some social diversity?," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 1300-1321.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sergio Da Silva & Raul Matsushita & Vanessa Valcanover & Jessica Campara & Newton Da Costa, 2022. "Losses make choices nonpositional," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(11), pages 1-11, November.
    2. Goerke, Laszlo, 2013. "Relative consumption and tax evasion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 52-65.
    3. Alpizar, Francisco & Carlsson, Fredrik & Johansson-Stenman, Olof, 2005. "How much do we care about absolute versus relative income and consumption?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 405-421, March.
    4. Muhammad Faress Bhuiyan, 2018. "Life Satisfaction and Economic Position Relative to Neighbors: Perceptions Versus Reality," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(7), pages 1935-1964, October.
    5. Till Treeck, 2014. "Did Inequality Cause The U.S. Financial Crisis?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 421-448, July.
    6. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/vbu6kd1s68o6r34k5bcm3iopv is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Thomas Aronsson & Olof Johansson-Stenman, 2014. "When Samuelson Met Veblen Abroad: National and Global Public Good Provision when Social Comparisons Matter," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 81(322), pages 224-243, April.
    8. Oege Dijk, 2017. "For whom does social comparison induce risk-taking?," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 82(4), pages 519-541, April.
    9. Fredrik Carlsson & Olof Johansson‐Stenman & Peter Martinsson, 2007. "Do You Enjoy Having More than Others? Survey Evidence of Positional Goods," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 74(296), pages 586-598, November.
    10. Mzoughi, Naoufel, 2011. "Farmers adoption of integrated crop protection and organic farming: Do moral and social concerns matter?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(8), pages 1536-1545, June.
    11. Rajan, Raghuram G. & Wulf, Julie, 2006. "Are perks purely managerial excess?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 1-33, January.
    12. Maccarrone, Giovanni & Marini, Marco A. & Tarola, Ornella, 2023. "Shop Until You Drop: the Unexpected Effects of Anticonsumerism and Environmentalism," FEEM Working Papers 330384, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    13. Engelbert Stockhammer & Rafael Wildauer, 2016. "Debt-driven growth? Wealth, distribution and demand in OECD countries," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 40(6), pages 1609-1634.
    14. Bernheim, B Douglas, 1994. "A Theory of Conformity," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(5), pages 841-877, October.
    15. Perez-Truglia, Ricardo, 2013. "A test of the conspicuous–consumption model using subjective well-being data," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 146-154.
    16. Chaim Fershtman & Uzi Segal, 2018. "Preferences and Social Influence," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 124-142, August.
    17. Naiditch, Claire & Vranceanu, Radu, 2011. "Remittances as a social status signaling device," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(4), pages 305-318, December.
    18. Douadia Bougherara & Sandrine Costa & Gilles Grolleau & Lisette Ibanez, 2010. "Can Positional Concerns Enhance the Private provision of Public Goods?," Working Papers 10-04, LAMETA, Universtiy of Montpellier, revised Apr 2010.
    19. Walter H. Fisher, 2005. "Current Account Dynamics in a Small Open‐Economy Model of Status Seeking," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), pages 262-282, May.
    20. Herbst, Luisa & Konrad, Kai A. & Morath, Florian, 2017. "Balance of power and the propensity of conflict," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 168-184.
    21. Teodor Sedlarski, 2019. "Political Economy Of Social Status - Economic And Socio-Psychological Effects Of Status Competition On 'Winner-Take-All' Markets," Yearbook of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Sofia University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski - Bulgaria, vol. 17(1), pages 211-277, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Socioeconomic competition; Working time; Leisure; Universal basic income; Clubs; Work-life balance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:inrvec:v:67:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s12232-020-00357-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.