This paper investigates the impact of the desire to keep up with the Joneses (KUJ) on economic growth and optimal tax policy in a continuous time overlapping generations model with AK technology and gradual retirement. Due to the desire to KUJ, the propensity to consume out of total wealth rises...

We employ a novel approach for analyzing the effects of relative consumption and relative wealth preferences on both the decentralized and the socially optimal economic growth rates. In the pertinent literature these effects are usually assessed by examining the dependence of the growth rates on...

In this paper, we examine the view of capital fundamentalism claiming that national fiscal policies, with public investment being subject to adjustment costs, can be considered as the primary determinant of economic growth. According to our analysis, a country that experiences a low rate of...