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...

We use a panel of 139 countries to examine the relationship between a country's openness to international trade and several health outcomes and find that, in general, increased openness is associated with lower rates of infant mortality and higher average life expectancies, especially in...