Does Inequality Affect the Needs of the Poor?
研究不平等如何改变穷人认为最必要的购买品，发现不平等导致穷人减少卡路里消费，增加对“小奢侈品”的需求，这种需求层级变化解释了卡路里下降的三分之二以上。
Abstract We investigate how inequality affects what is considered most necessary to purchase. Combining detailed consumption surveys in India with an instrumental variable approach, we first provide evidence that inequality is associated with a decrease in calorie consumption for poor households. This effect is driven by upward comparisons and associated with poor households spending more on luxuries, consistent with the relative deprivation theory. We then estimate a structural demand system to isolate the impact of inequality on needs from supply-side effects. We find that inequality increases the need of the poor for “little luxuries” (e.g., dairy products, energy use) at the expense of necessities (e.g., cereals). This shift in the hierarchy of needs accounts for more than two-thirds of the decline in the calorie consumption of the poor over the period.