The Role of Aspirations in the Relative Income Hypothesis

Citation

Hoppenfeld, Tyler (2014). The Role of Aspirations in the Relative Income Hypothesis.

Abstract

This thesis presents pseudo-panel evidence that job market outcomes of high school peers affect well being in part by shaping an individuals aspirations. I use a pseudo-panel to demonstrate that an individual's aspirations are linked to the aspired and achieved career prestige of their high school friends and classmates, and that their own well-being depends in part on their aspirations. Additionally, I observe that the pattern of peer effects is also evident in a second, more diverse, dataset. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, I find similar patterns of peer effects, though the data does not include any information about aspirations. The primary novel contributions are the a pseudo panel strategy controlling for endogenous group formation, the analysis of career aspirations in the context of peer effects, and the use in an economic study of a multi-dimensional measure of well-being grounded in the psychological literature.

URL

http://libproxy.lib.unc.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1554706516?accountid=14244

Keyword(s)

Social sciences

Notes

Reference Type

Thesis/Dissertation

Book Title

Economics

Author(s)

Hoppenfeld, Tyler

Series Author(s)

Ioannides, Yannis M.

Year Published

2014

Volume Number

1558545

Publisher

Tufts University

City of Publication

Ann Arbor

ISSN/ISBN

9781303986505

DOI