The aspirational income hypothesis: On the limits of the relative income hypothesis

Khalil, Elias L.; Aimone, Jason A.; Houser, Daniel; Wang, Siyu; Martínez, Déborah; Qian, Kun

doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2020.12.003

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It is still an open question whether Friston's theory is a general theory of all kinds of decisions (see . For instance, it might not be capable of explaining aspiration, where the desire for distinction and achievement differs from the formation of heuristics and patterned behavior-a distinction well-recognized in the literature (e.g., Klein, 2018;Khalil et al, 2021). However, given that this paper focuses only on patterned behavior (routines), Friston's theory is promising at least in accounting for the computation of predictive behavior that considers available information, a keystone of rational choice theory.…”

Section: Physiological Malfunctions Versus Physiological Collapsementioning

confidence: 95%

The parallelism of cognitive economy and physiological economy: A rationality-based dual process theory

Khalil

Amin

2022

Curr Psychol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Researchers recognize the affinity of habits-as-heuristics and habits-as-routines. This paper argues that the affinity should not be surprising, as both kinds of habits are the outcome of rational choice. The paper finds that the dual process theory, once reconstructed as based on rational choice, reveals that the affinity runs deep, as three-fold parallelism: i) the cognitive economy responsible for habits-as-heuristics parallels what this paper calls the “physiological economy” responsible for habits-as-routines; ii) the occasional slipup of heuristics generated by the cognitive economy parallels the occasional slipup of routines of the physiological economy; and iii) the breakdown of heuristics of the cognitive economy parallels the breakdown of routines of the physiological economy. The rationality-based dual process theory can explain—whereas the single process theory cannot—why slipups do not induce the decision makers to abandon the pertinent habit, but breakdowns do.

show abstract

Section: Physiological Malfunctions Versus Physiological Collapsementioning

confidence: 95%

The parallelism of cognitive economy and physiological economy: A rationality-based dual process theory

Khalil

Amin

2022

Curr Psychol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To recapitulate, all DMs are entrepreneurs in the sense of aspiring to achieve higher distinction and greater goals of refined consumption of plays, films, music, painting, and so on (see Khalil, 1997; Khalil et al, 2021). 4 However, as a result of income inequality and non-reversible SC investment, some DMs succeed while others fail in achieving their aspirational goals.…”

Section: Conceptual Clarificationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Refined tastes, coarse tastes: Solving the stratification-of-goods enigma

Khalil

2023

Rationality and Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The “Stratification-of-Goods” expresses social ranking where the lower status group consumes almost exclusively coarse goods such as Rambo films while the upper status group consumes almost exclusively refined goods such as Shakespearean plays. The Stratification-of-Goods is an enigma for the social welfare function (SWF)—which also applies at the level of the individual utility function. It is an enigma because it makes SWF and individual utility function ill-defined: there is no single metric that allows us to compare the utility functions across groups, as well as the tastes across a single decision maker (DM), insofar as they are segregated by the refinement of taste. This paper proposes a model that promises to solve the Stratification-of-Goods Enigma. The model, consistent with rational choice theory, starts with DMs who have identical tastes but differ with respect to income level. If income inequality is non-trivial, DMs invest differently in what this paper calls “sophistication capital”—the education needed to appreciate refined goods. The difference in investment in sophistication capital sets in motion dynamics that generates hard-to-reverse status stratification. In this fashion, this paper offers a solid endogenous account that solves the Stratification-of-Goods Enigma.

show abstract

“…While entrepreneurship differs from friendship-and-love, they share a common thread. Insofar as the pursuit of an imagined portrayal of a future self can be seen as a form of bonding, entrepreneurship and more broadly the pursuit of aspiration enhance the transcendental satisfaction action (see Khalil, 2019b;Khalil et al, 2021). At least according to one the function of sympathy in the propriety-of-action judgment, is different from nature of the satisfaction, whether it is substantive or transcendental.…”

Section: Sugden's Social Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Friendship Stem from Altruism? Adam Smith and the Distinction between Love-based and Interest-based Preferences

Khalil¹

2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Friendship-and-love expresses musings about wellbeing—while “wellbeing” is the economist’s substantive satisfaction. Insofar as altruism is about wellbeing, it must differ from friendship-and-love. However, what is the basis of the difference between substantive satisfaction and friendship-and-love? The answer can be found in Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments, chapter 2: how “mutual sympathy” differs from “sympathy.” Smith scholars generally miss the uniqueness of “mutual sympathy” and, indeed, fold it under Smith’s “sympathy” (and “empathy”)—with one exception. Robert Sugden highlights the uniqueness of mutual sympathy. However, he goes to the other end, i.e., folds it under Smith’s sympathy-and-empathy”. This paper aims to avoid the folding in either direction. While mutual sympathy originates love-based sociality (friendship-and-love), sympathy-and-empathy originates interest-based sociality (wellbeing that includes altruism). This paper concludes that friendship is neither reducible to altruism nor vice versa. Further, this paper distinguishes this problem from the question regarding the socialization of the individual.

show abstract

The aspirational income hypothesis: On the limits of the relative income hypothesis

Cited by 8 publications

References 31 publications

The parallelism of cognitive economy and physiological economy: A rationality-based dual process theory

The parallelism of cognitive economy and physiological economy: A rationality-based dual process theory

Refined tastes, coarse tastes: Solving the stratification-of-goods enigma

Does Friendship Stem from Altruism? Adam Smith and the Distinction between Love-based and Interest-based Preferences

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About