A Comparative Study of Student Demand for Status in Ireland, Italy and the United States

This paper reports on results of surveys of hundreds of students in Italy, Ireland and the United States that show that if simply confronted with questions about their preferences for high relative income at the expense of absolute income that a) a substantial fractiongive inconsistent answers and b) that the remainder are overwhelmingly status conscious. It also shows that where they are given more information about the benefits of higher real income that there is a significant decrease in this preference for status. The results are remarkably similar in all 3 countries and what differences exist are consistent with what we know about their differences in intergenerational income mobility. It also sho ws that when the price of status is changed American students response is highly inconsistent with any fully formed preferences for status. This is somewhat less so in Italy. Overall the results throw doubt on one of the empirical linchpins that has been used to bolster the idea that relative income is what people seek.