Emulation, Inequality, and Work Hours: Was Thorsten Veblen Right?
研究人们模仿富人消费的欲望如何影响劳动与休闲的时间分配，发现更大的不平等会导致更长的工作时间，并探讨了累进消费税的福利含义。
We investigate the manner in which a desire to emulate the rich influences individuals' allocation of time between labour and leisure, greater inequality inducing longer work hours as a result. Data on work hours in ten countries over the period 1963-98 show that greater inequality is indeed associated longer work hours. These 'Veblen effects' are large and the estimates are robust using country fixed effects and other specifications. Because consumption inequality is a public bad, a social welfare optimum cannot be implemented by a flat tax on consumption but may be accomplished by more complicated (progressive) consumption taxes. Copyright 2005 Royal Economic Society.