Next Economic Analysis Seminar Series
Next Thursday 5th November 2026 at 12:30 P.M.
El jueves 5 de noviembre tendremos un seminario impartido por por Daniel Friedman (University of Essex and University of California Santa Cruz), titulado “The Joneses Visit an Economics Lab".
El seminario tendrá lugar a las 12:30 en la Sala de Juntas 2 del Edificio 2.
Título: The Joneses Visit an Economics Lab
Autores: Mikhail Freer, Daniel Friedman, Christian Ghiglino and Elke Weidenholzer.
Abstract: Existing literature offers persuasive evidence that individuals care about how their consumption compares to that of peers, and proposes a large variety of explanatory models. The present paper proposes a common framework for many of those models, and compares their ability to predict behavior in a laboratory experiment. We find evidence of "Keeping up with the Joneses" motivations but also find that conspicuous consumption is enhanced by "Veblen" motivations arising from peers' ability to observe one's own choice. Among the seven quasi-linear preference models we compare, our data are best explained by a model that contrasts envy and pride (upward vs downward comparisons) using a value function borrowed from Prospect Theory.