China and the United States are the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases, making them pivotal players in global climate negotiations. Within the coming decade, however, India is set to become the most important counterpart to the United States, as it overtakes China as the country with the...

This paper analyzes optimal social discount rates where people derive utility from relative consumption. We identify and compare three separate discount rates: the social rate (taking positional externalities into account), the private rate, and the conventional Ramsey rate. Two main findings...