Income Inequality and Saving
研究发现美国底层50%收入者平均收入增长8%但储蓄率下降8个百分点，提出基于人际比较的解释：家庭关注相对消费时，个体储蓄率随参照收入下降，总储蓄率随收入不平等下降。
Abstract Over the last three decades, the average income for the bottom half of the US distribution increased by 8% while their average saving rate decreased by 8 percentage points. Over the same period, the US experienced a substantial increase in inequality and a continuous decrease in the aggregate saving rate. We propose an explanation based on interpersonal comparisons consistent with these trends. When households care about their consumption relative to others, individual saving rates decrease with reference income while aggregate saving decreases with income inequality. We provide evidence from the PSID and a panel of OECD countries consistent with these predictions.