Choosing Your Pond: Location Choices and Relative Income

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bottan, Nicolas L.; Perez-Truglia, Ricardo
• 署名单位: Cornell University; University of California System; University of California Berkeley
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_00991
• 发表日期: 2022-09
• 页码: 1010-1027
• 关键词: preferences; satisfaction; incentives; happiness; BEHAVIOR; schools; demand; FUTURE; MARKET; rents

摘要

Do individuals care about their relative income? While this is a long-standing hypothesis, revealed-preference evidence remains elusive. We provide a unique test by studying residential choices: individuals often must choose between places with different income distributions, and as a result they choose their relative income. We conducted a field experiment with 1,080 senior medical students who participated in the National Resident Matching Program. We estimate their preferences by combining choice data, survey data on perceptions, and information-provision experiments. The evidence suggests that individuals care about their relative income and that these preferences differ across single and nonsingle individuals.