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Reference Group Income and Subjective Well-Being: Empirical Evidence from Low-Income Transition Economies

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  • Armenak Antinyan

    (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)

Abstract

This paper aims at studying the connection between reference group income and life satisfaction in the three republics of the South Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. I illustrate that in low-income transition economies individuals make not only upward comparisons, decreasing their subjective well-being if the reference group members are richer than they are, but also downward comparisons, enhancing their subjective well-being if the reference group members are poorer. This result contradicts Duesenberry’s idea that comparisons are mostly upward.

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  • Armenak Antinyan, 2016. "Reference Group Income and Subjective Well-Being: Empirical Evidence from Low-Income Transition Economies," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(3), pages 1333-1348, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:127:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-015-0997-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-015-0997-3
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    Cited by:

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    2. La, Binh Thanh & Lim, Steven & Cameron, Michael P. & Tran, Tuyen Quang & Nguyen, Minh Thi, 2021. "Absolute income, comparison income and subjective well-being in a transitional country: Panel evidence from Vietnamese household surveys," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 368-385.
    3. Antinyan, Armenak & Baghdasaryan, Vardan & Grigoryan, Aleksandr, 2022. "Charitable giving, social capital, and positional concerns," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    4. Antinyan, Armenak & Horváth, Gergely & Jia, Mofei, 2019. "Social status competition and the impact of income inequality in evolving social networks: An agent-based model," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 53-69.
    5. Astghik Mavisakalyan & Anna Minasyan, 2023. "The Role of Conflict in Sex Discrimination: The Case of Missing Girls," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71(2), pages 443-484.
    6. Mavisakalyan, Astghik, 2018. "Do employers reward physical attractiveness in transition countries?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 38-52.
    7. Zhijian Zhang & Xueyuan Wang, 2021. "Ambition or Jealousy? It Depends on Whom you are Compared with," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1189-1215, March.
    8. Chenghua Guan & Yingjie Qiu & Ruopeng An, 2019. "Relative Income and Life Satisfaction among Chinese Adults," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-12, October.
    9. Yan Meng & Shi Kai, 2019. "Subjective Well-Being and Job Types: New Evidence From China," Economics and Culture, Sciendo, vol. 16(1), pages 24-31, June.
    10. Astghik Mavisakalyan, 2016. "Looks matter: Attractiveness and employment in the former soviet union," Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Working Paper series WP1604, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School.
    11. Armenak Antinyan & Luca Corazzini, 2018. "Relative standing and temporary migration: Empirical evidence from the South Caucasus," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 361-383, February.

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