Status Concerns and Occupational Choice Under Uncertainty

• Published in: The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics Vol. 6; no. 1; p. 4
• Main Author: Clemens, Christiane
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berkeley bepress 23.08.2006; Walter de Gruyter GmbH
• Subjects: Ambiguity; Equilibrium; Occupational choice; Risk; Risk taking; Social status; Uncertainty
• ISSN: 1935-1704; 2194-6124; 1935-1704
• DOI: 10.2202/1534-5963.1255

A BEJTE Advances article. Abstract This paper examines the consequences of status preferences on entrepreneurial risk-taking in a general equilibrium model of occupational choice. We distinguish between two frames of reference. In the first, status is derived from class-membership, the economic indicator of which is the expected relative income of the person's occupation. In the second, status is tied to individual income relative to the mean. We find that the effect of status needs depends on whether or not the status variable itself is subject to risk. While social status increases entrepreneurial risk-taking in the first case, the effect is ambiguous in the second and crucially depends on how status preferences alter the effective degree of risk aversion. The results carry over to the distributional consequences, where status preferences have an equalizing effect only if certain conditions are met. Submitted: August 31, 2005 · Accepted: March 30, 2006 · Published: August 23, 2006 Originally published in Advances in Theoretical Economics. Recommended Citation Clemens, Christiane (2006) "Status Concerns and Occupational Choice Under Uncertainty," Advances in Theoretical Economics: Vol. 6 : Iss. 1, Article 4. Available at: http://www.bepress.com/bejte/advances/vol6/iss1/art4