The Spirit of Capitalism and Stock-Market Prices
基于韦伯的资本主义精神假说，分析投资者追求社会地位如何影响消费、储蓄和股价波动，发现该精神是股市波动和经济增长的驱动力。
In existing theory, wealth is no more valuable than its implied consumption rewards. In reality investors acquire wealth not just for its implied consumption, but for the resulting social status. Max M. Weber refers to this desire for wealth as the spirit of capitalism. We examine, both analytically and empirically, implications of Weber's hypothesis for consumption, savings, and stock prices. When investors care about relative social status, propensity to consume and risk-taking behavior will depend on social standards, and stock prices will be volatile. The spirit of capitalism seems to be a driving force behind stock-market volatility and economic growth.