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Positional Concerns among the Poor: Does Reference Group Matter? Evidence from Survey Experiments

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  • Akay, Alpaslan

    (University of Gothenburg)

  • Andersson, Lisa

    (University of Gothenburg)

  • Martinsson, Peter

    (University of Gothenburg)

  • Medhin, Haileselassie

    (University of Gothenburg)

Abstract

Previous research suggests a lower degree of positional concerns among people from poor countries. Yet the evidence is limited and most often builds on the assumption that people’s reference groups are the same across all individuals. We conduct a survey experiment in urban Ethiopia that is modified to include multiplicity of reference groups. We estimate positional concerns considering various reference groups to test whether the low positional concerns found in the literature is due to misspecification of the reference groups. The results show a low degree of positional concern which is highly stable across different reference groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Akay, Alpaslan & Andersson, Lisa & Martinsson, Peter & Medhin, Haileselassie, 2014. "Positional Concerns among the Poor: Does Reference Group Matter? Evidence from Survey Experiments," IZA Discussion Papers 8215, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8215
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    Cited by:

    1. Sakketa, T.G., 2018. "Relative Deprivation in Income, Assets, and Social Capital: Motivational and Deterrent Impacts on the Well-Being of Rural Youth," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277116, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Akpalu, Wisdom & Eggert, Håkan & Adanu, Kwami, 2024. "Context, welfare sensitivity, and positional preferences among fisherfolks in a developing country," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    3. Akay, Alpaslan & Martinsson, Peter & Ralsmark, Hilda, 2019. "Relative concerns and sleep behavior," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 1-14.
    4. Sakketa Tekalign Gutu & Gerber Nicolas, 2018. "Working Paper 296 - Relative Deprivation and Well-Being of the Rural Youth," Working Paper Series 2423, African Development Bank.
    5. HAURET Laetitia & WILLIAMS Donald R., 2017. "Choice of colleagues as reference group for wage comparison: does group composition matter?," LISER Working Paper Series 2017-10, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    income comparison; reference groups; experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General

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