Choosing or Inheriting the Joneses: The Origins of Reference Groups

Martin Leites (), Camila Paleo, Xavier Ramos () and Gonzalo Salas
Additional contact information
Martin Leites: Universidad de la República, Uruguay
Camila Paleo: IECON, Universidad de la República
Xavier Ramos: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

No 15584, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Do individuals choose their reference groups, i.e. their Joneses, or are they culturally transmitted across generations? We provide evidence that feeds the theoretical debate about the endogeneity or exogeneity of reference groups. Our findings for Uruguay suggest that reference groups are largely transmitted across generations. We also find individuals to have multiple reference groups and these to be context-specific. Our results are robust to several checks and to endogeneity issues.

Keywords: intergenerational transmission; reference group; income comparisons (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D62 D63 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42 pages
Date: 2022-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lam
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Choosing or Inheriting the Joneses: The origins of reference groups (2022)
Working Paper: Choosing or Inheriting the Joneses: The origins of reference groups (2022)
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