Hirschman and Rothschild's (1973) tunnel effect refers to the propensity for individuals to be pleased by the success of others if they believe this signals an improvement in their own prospects. Tunnel effects are subject to two claims in the current literature on happiness: that they partly or...

This paper provides the first comparative analysis of the preference for social status across countries. We develop and provide support for two hypotheses: the cultural foundations hypothesis, which claims that individuals' preferences for status are rooted in persistent cultural values, and the...

This paper investigates the political economy of taxation and growth in a model in which individuals have preference for high levels of relative consumption. A pivotal voter determines the equilibrium tax on capital, the revenues from which fund the provision of productive public goods. The...

This paper explores the role of within group social comparisons on the life satisfaction of different racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. For Whites, we find that higher group income levels are associated with lower levels of life satisfaction, a result that is consistent with a preference for...