Peer effects, risk pooling, and status seeking: What explains gift spending escalation in rural China?
It has been widely documented that the poor spend a significant proportion of their income on gifts even at the expense of basic consumption. We test three competing explanations of this phenomenon—peer effect, status concern, and risk pooling—based on a census-type primary household survey in three...
| Autores principales: | , , |
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| Formato: | Artículo preliminar |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
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International Food Policy Research Institute
2011
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154747 |
| _version_ | 1855528569755664384 |
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| author | Chen, Xi Kanbur, Ravi Zhang, Xiaobo |
| author_browse | Chen, Xi Kanbur, Ravi Zhang, Xiaobo |
| author_facet | Chen, Xi Kanbur, Ravi Zhang, Xiaobo |
| author_sort | Chen, Xi |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | It has been widely documented that the poor spend a significant proportion of their income on gifts even at the expense of basic consumption. We test three competing explanations of this phenomenon—peer effect, status concern, and risk pooling—based on a census-type primary household survey in three natural villages in rural China and on detailed household records of gifts received on major occasions. We show that gift-giving behavior is largely influenced by peers in reference groups. Status concern is another key motive for keeping up with the Joneses in extending gifts. In particular, poor families with sons spend more on gift giving in proportion to their income than their rich counterparts, in response to the tightening marriage market. In contrast, risk pooling does not seem to be a key driver of the observed gift-giving patterns. However, we show that large windfall income triggers the escalation of competitive gift-giving behavior. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace154747 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publishDateRange | 2011 |
| publishDateSort | 2011 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1547472025-11-06T06:33:49Z Peer effects, risk pooling, and status seeking: What explains gift spending escalation in rural China? Chen, Xi Kanbur, Ravi Zhang, Xiaobo effects risk social networks It has been widely documented that the poor spend a significant proportion of their income on gifts even at the expense of basic consumption. We test three competing explanations of this phenomenon—peer effect, status concern, and risk pooling—based on a census-type primary household survey in three natural villages in rural China and on detailed household records of gifts received on major occasions. We show that gift-giving behavior is largely influenced by peers in reference groups. Status concern is another key motive for keeping up with the Joneses in extending gifts. In particular, poor families with sons spend more on gift giving in proportion to their income than their rich counterparts, in response to the tightening marriage market. In contrast, risk pooling does not seem to be a key driver of the observed gift-giving patterns. However, we show that large windfall income triggers the escalation of competitive gift-giving behavior. 2011 2024-10-01T14:03:34Z 2024-10-01T14:03:34Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154747 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154739 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154771 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/153558 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/161834 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/160201 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Chen, Xi; Kanbur, Ravi; Zhang, Xiaobo. 2011. Peer effects, risk pooling, and status seeking: What explains gift spending escalation in rural China? IFPRI Discussion Paper 1151. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154747 |
| spellingShingle | effects risk social networks Chen, Xi Kanbur, Ravi Zhang, Xiaobo Peer effects, risk pooling, and status seeking: What explains gift spending escalation in rural China? |
| title | Peer effects, risk pooling, and status seeking: What explains gift spending escalation in rural China? |
| title_full | Peer effects, risk pooling, and status seeking: What explains gift spending escalation in rural China? |
| title_fullStr | Peer effects, risk pooling, and status seeking: What explains gift spending escalation in rural China? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Peer effects, risk pooling, and status seeking: What explains gift spending escalation in rural China? |
| title_short | Peer effects, risk pooling, and status seeking: What explains gift spending escalation in rural China? |
| title_sort | peer effects risk pooling and status seeking what explains gift spending escalation in rural china |
| topic | effects risk social networks |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154747 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chenxi peereffectsriskpoolingandstatusseekingwhatexplainsgiftspendingescalationinruralchina AT kanburravi peereffectsriskpoolingandstatusseekingwhatexplainsgiftspendingescalationinruralchina AT zhangxiaobo peereffectsriskpoolingandstatusseekingwhatexplainsgiftspendingescalationinruralchina |