Inequality, social comparisons and minimum income aspirations: Evidence from South Africa

Posel, Dorrit; Rogan, Michael

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: pdf
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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