000			01186nam a22001457a 4500
999			_c524256 _d524256
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100			_aLangtry, Alastair _946203
245			_aKeeping up with "the joneses": Reference-dependent choice with social comparisons
260			_aAmerican Economic Journal: Microeconomics
300			_a15(3), Aug, 2023: p.474-500
520			_aKeeping up with "The Joneses" matters. This paper examines a model of reference-dependent choice where reference points are determined by social comparisons. An increase in the strength of social comparisons, even by only a few agents, increases consumption and decreases welfare for everyone. Strikingly, a higher marginal cost of consumption can increase welfare. In a labor market, social comparisons with coworkers create a big fish in a small pond effect, inducing incomplete labor market sorting. Further, it is the skilled workers with the weakest social networks who are induced to give up income to become the big fish. – Reproduced https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/mic.20220088
773			_aAmerican Economic Journal: Microeconomics
906			_aLABOUR MARKET
942			_cAR