We investigate Veblen effects on work hours, namely the way that a desire to emulate the consumption standards of the rich induces longer work hours among the rest. Consistent with our model of these asymmetric social comparisons, greater inequality predicts longer work hours in ten OECD...

This paper investigates whether one's effort to keep up with the Joneses has any effect on labor supply behavior. We provide a simple model and empirical evidence that labor supply decisions of married women are influenced by relative as well as absolute income of their husbands. We find, after...

This paper provides a simple model and evidence that labor supply decisions of married women are influenced by relative income of their husbands. After controlling for their husbands' absolute income and other individual characteristics, married women are more likely to be in labor force when...