This paper shows that in a contest with the "Tullock" forms of contest success function, an increase in the number of contestants always reduces individual effort. However, when the outcome of the contest is governed by a noisy function of effort, then individual effort could either increase or...

This paper introduces a signalling model of conspicuous consumption in the context of an endogenous growth model. Agents purchase luxury goods to signal their social status. 'Invidious Comparison' takes place when rich agents successfully identify themselves, whereas 'Pecuniary Emulation' takes...

This paper models a market for status contained in a knowledge economy. Technological progress favours the knowledge sector and inequality of income rises with productivity. We show that the expected utility of all agents can fall while output and productivity grow; and such an outcome of...