We study a class of symmetric, quasi-homothetic preferences that result in demands logarithmic in own prices when these have a negligible impact on aggregate price indices (as in monopolistic competition models). Thus marginal revenues are computationally friendly, and decreasing whenever...

This paper provides characterization theorems for preferences that can be represented by the minimum, the maximum, and the sum of components, or combinations of these forms. It contains a discussion of applications to social choice

In the past several decades the experimental method has lent deep insights into economics. One perhaps surprising area that has contributed is the experimental study of children, where advances as varied as the evolution of human behaviors that shape markets and institutions, to how early life...

This paper reviews the literature on culture and economics, focusing primarily on the epidemiological approach. The epidemiological approach studies the variation in outcomes across different immigrant groups residing in the same country. Immigrants presumably differ in their cultures but share...

The field of household finance has established a correlation between savings behavior and education, income, and race. This is partly explained by a high discount rate ultimately leading to low social status. This paper establishes causation in the opposite direction, with a relatively low...

In September, 2010 students of economic faculty of the Kazakhstan branch of the Moscow State University (Astana, Kazakhstan) have interviewed among the contemporaries to identify their financial preferences. There were interviewed 225 people aged 19 to 25 years. One of the most substantial...

We take issue with the argument expounded, among others, by Layard (2006, Economic Journal) that status-seeking preferences justify heavier taxation of income because this serves to internalise the negative externality that the pursuit of status imposes on others. In a model where status depends...