differences, we emphasize instead a model of status seeking in which conspicuous consumption is used to reflect a household … conspicuous consumption in explaining lower spending by racial minorities on items likes health and education, as well as their …

This paper evaluates the return on equity using novel data on the consumption of luxury goods. Specifying household … utility as a nonhomothetic function of the consumption of both a luxury good and a basic good, we derive and evaluate the … returns and the consumption of luxury goods is more than an order of magnitude less than found using national accounts …

We examine a model of conspicuous consumption and explore the nature of competition in markets for conspicuous goods … cost), as well as 'luxury" brands (which are sold at a price above marginal cost, despite the fact that producers are … perfectly competitive). Luxury brands are not intrinsically superior to budget brands but are purchased by consumers who seek to …