Drechsel-Grau, Moritz; Schmid, Kai D. - Forschungsbasierte Infrastruktureinrichtung … - 2013
We demonstrate that interpersonal comparisons lead to "keeping up with the Joneses"-behavior. Using annual household data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we estimate the causal effect of changes in reference consumption, defined as the consumption level of all households who are perceived...