Development of a Theory of Status in Economic Decision Making

人们重视地位，并经常寻求它作为他们在工作和其他地方努力的回报。 地位被定义为在社会认为重要的某个方面的高级别。 地位的来源可以分为两大类：挣得的和不劳而获的。 例如，大学毕业生相对于高中辍学者拥有“应得”的地位，而世袭等级则代表“不劳而获”地位的一个例子。 地位是一种固有的社会现象，但它充满了经济后果。 社会心理学家认为社会地位会影响人们对待彼此的方式。 他们的研究表明，例如，人们会歧视那些与自己地位相似的人，而歧视那些地位较低的人。 经济学家从不同的角度看待这些问题。 经济学家想知道的是，当歧视要付出代价时，人们是否愿意继续歧视。 经济学家还想知道地位是否有足够的价值来支付它，如果是的话，人们愿意支付多少。 这些问题构成了这一试点工作的目标。 本研究通过在一个实验性的经济环境中创造地位来探索地位价值的经济基础，例如实验性的市场。 对这些实验的分析将根据受试者或他们的对手的地位高低来比较受试者的决定。 这项研究将有助于理解地位改变决策的方式，以及地位可以用来奖励工作努力的方式。

People value status and often seek it as a reward for their efforts in work and elsewhere. Status is defined as high rank on some dimension that is held by society to be important. The sources of status can be separated into two main categories: those which are earned and those which are unearned. College graduates, for example, hold "earned" status relative to high school dropouts while hereditary rank represents an example of "unearned" status. Status is an inherently social phenomenon but one which is full of economic ramifications. Social psychologists understand that status affects the way people treat each other. Their work shows that, for example, people will discriminate in favor od people who have a status level similar to their own, and against those with lower status. Economists look at these questions from a different angle. What economists want to know about status is whether people are willing to continue to discriminate when discrimination costs money. Economists also want to know whether status is valuable enough to pay for it, and if so, how much people are willing to pay. These questions form the objectives in this pilot effort. The research explores the economic basis for the value of status by creating status in an experimental economic environment, for example, an experimental market. Analysis of these experiments will compare subjects' decisions based on whether they or their opponents had high or low status. This research will aid in understanding the ways in which status changes decision making and in the ways status can be used to reward work efforts.