- Title
- Inequality, social comparisons and minimum income aspirations: Evidence from South Africa
- Title
- ISER Working Paper, no. 2017/3
- Creator
- Posel, Dorrit
- Creator
- Rogan, Michael
- Subject
- Economic development -- South Africa South Africa -- Economic conditions South Africa -- Social policy Economic development -- Political aspects -- South Africa
- Date Issued
- 2017
- Date
- 2017
- Type
- Book
- Type
- Text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59510
- Identifier
- vital:27621
- Identifier
- ISBN 9780868106359
- Identifier
- DOI 10.21504/10962/59509
- Description
- We investigate the formation of minimum income aspirations in South Africa, a country with high rates of poverty together with very high and rising rates of inequality. A number of empirical studies in both developed and developing countries have shown that income aspirations increase with the individual’s own income and with the income of others in their community, relationships which are explained by processes of adaptation through habituation and social comparison. However, the relationship between income aspirations and inequality has received far less empirical attention. We analyse the minimum income question (MIQ) asked in nationally representative household survey from 2008/2009 to test for evidence of aspirations failure among the poor in South Africa, and to investigate whether high levels of local inequality dampen or stimulate minimum income aspirations, and particularly among those living in poverty.
- Format
- 26 pages
- Format
- Publisher
- Rhodes University, Institute of Social and Economic Research
- Language
- English
- Relation
- ISER Working Paper, no. 2017/3
- Relation
- Working Paper Series: Social Policy and Labour
- Rights
- Posel, Dorrit and Rogan, Michael
- Rights
- http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Microsoft Word - Working paper-2017-3.docx | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |