Social Status, Culture and Economic Performance
构建了一个一般均衡模型，将社会地位内生化，分析文化差异如何通过影响职业地位和工资结构，进而影响总产出和经济福利。
In analysing the differences in productive capacity among economies it is usual to concentrate on the physical aspects of the population, the different attributes of capital, including human capital, and on the available production technologies. Societies also differ in culture in ways which are relevant for economic performance. The sociological literature recognises that different occupations have different social status and that workers benefit not only from the wage they receive but also from being associated with a particular occupation. Cultural differences among societies may translate into different status of occupations and can, therefore, affect the choice of education and occupation and, consequently, the equilibrium level of output and wages. conversely, the economic choices of individuals influence the social status of occupations. In particular, it is well established by sociological research that the social status of an occupation is influenced by economic attributes such as the average wage and the average level of education in the occupation. A major objective of our work is to illustrate that sociological and economic approaches can be combined within a unified framework. This is in contrast to some social scientists who view the two approaches as competing with each other (PhelpsBrown, I 977, ch. 4). In this paper we construct a simple general equilibrium model in which both wages and status are determined endogenously. We show that changes in the demand for status, triggered by changes in preferences or in income distribution, influence the wage structure, the level of aggregate output and economic welfare. The link between status and aggregate output is created by the fact that differences in occupational status imply occupational wage differences among workers of the same skill. The larger is the demand for status the larger is the wage gap and the lower is aggregate output. Our discussion of status is closely related to the economic analysis of discrimination against ethnic or racial groups (Becker, I 97 I ; Arrow, I 973).