Do Relative Income and Income Inequality Affect Consumption? Evidence from the Villages of Rural China
利用2003-2006年中国农村数百个村庄的家庭面板数据，研究发现家庭消费率与相对收入地位负相关，与村庄收入不平等正相关，支持社会地位寻求理论。
Abstract This article examines how a household's consumption rate is affected by its relative income and income inequality within a community. Based on the theory of social status seeking in consumption, we test hypotheses related to these factors using a unique panel data set of rural households in China observed within a few hundred villages between 2003 and 2006. We find that the household's consumption rate is negatively related to the relative income position after controlling for the absolute income, and positively related to the income inequality of the village. We confirm these with different measurements of relative position.