Arbeitspapier
Income comparisons, income formation, and subjective well-being: New evidence on envy versus signaling
Drawing on the distinction between envy and signaling effects in income comparison, this paper uses 307,465 observations for subjective well-being and its covariates from Germany, 1990-2009, to study whether the nature of income comparison has changed in the process of economic development, and how such changes are related to changes in the nature of income formation. By conceptualizing a person's comparison income as the income predicted by an earnings equation, we find that, while in 1990-1999 envy has been the dominant concern in West Germany and signaling the dominant factor in East Germany, income comparison was non-existing in 2000-2009. We also find that the earnings equation reflects people's ability more accurately in the second than in the first period. Together, these findings suggest that comparing one's income with people of the same ability is important only when ability is insufficiently reflected in own income.
- Sprache
-
Englisch
- Erschienen in
-
Series: SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research ; No. 552
- Klassifikation
-
Wirtschaft
Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
General Welfare; Well-Being
Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions: Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training: Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty
Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
- Thema
-
income comparison
envy
signaling
subjective well-being
income formation
- Ereignis
-
Geistige Schöpfung
- (wer)
-
Welsch, Heinz
Kühling, Jan
- Ereignis
-
Veröffentlichung
- (wer)
-
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW)
- (wo)
-
Berlin
- (wann)
-
2013
- Handle
- Letzte Aktualisierung
-
10.03.2025, 11:41 MEZ
Datenpartner
Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.
Objekttyp
- Arbeitspapier
Beteiligte
- Welsch, Heinz
- Kühling, Jan
- Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW)
Entstanden
- 2013
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