SOCIAL STATUS, CULTURE AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE*

Cultural differences among societies may translate into different social status of occupations and can, therefore, affect the workers' choice of education and occupation and, consequently, the equilibrium level of output and wages. Conversely, the economic choices of individuals influence the social status of occupations. This paper constructs a general equilibrium model in which both wages and status are determined endogenously. The authors show that changes in the demand for status, triggered by changes in preferences or income distribution, influence the wage structure, the level of aggregate output, and economic welfare. Copyright 1993 by Royal Economic Society.

[1]  H. Brown.  The Inequality of Pay , 1979 .

[2]  The Wealth Effect in Occupational Choice , 1974 .

[3]  V. Rao.  Does "Prestige" Matter? Compensating Differentials for Social Mobility in the Indian Cast System , 1992 .

[4]  P. Rossi,et al.  Occupational Prestige in the United States, 1925-63 , 1964, American Journal of Sociology.

[5]  A. Banerjee,et al.  Occupational Choice and the Process of Development , 1993, Journal of Political Economy.

[6]  Laurie Simon Hodrick,et al.  Conspicuous Consumption, Pure Profits, and the Luxury Tax , 1992 .

[7]  K. Arrow.  The Theory of Discrimination , 1971 .

[8]  Y. Weiss,et al.  Experience, Vintage, and Time Effects in the Growth of Earnings: American Scientists, 1960-1970 , 1976, Journal of Political Economy.

[9]  K. Basu.  A THEORY OF ASSOCIATION: SOCIAL STATUS, PRICES AND MARKETS , 1989 .

[10]  On the Stability of Occupational Rankings , 1992 .

[11]  D. Treiman.  Occupational Prestige in Comparative Perspective , 1977 .

[12]  R. Bénabou.  Location, Education, and Production , 1991 .

[13]  B. Bernheim,et al.  A Theory of Conformity , 1994, Journal of Political Economy.

[14]  Gary S. Becker,et al.  The Economics of Discrimination , 1957 .

[15]  J. Mincer.  Schooling, Experience, and Earnings , 1976 .

[16]  O. D. Duncan,et al.  Socioeconomic Background and Achievement. , 1974 .

[17]  C. Nam,et al.  The Socioeconomic Approach To Status Measurement , 1983 .

[18]  W. Baumol.  Entrepreneurship: Productive, Unproductive, and Destructive , 1990, Journal of Political Economy.

[19]  Arthur J. Robson,et al.  Status, the Distribution of Wealth, Private and Social Attitudes to Risk , 1992 .

[20]  Harold L. Cole,et al.  Social Norms, Savings Behavior, and Growth , 1992, Journal of Political Economy.