Moav, Omer, and Zvika Neeman. “Saving rates and poverty: the role of conspicuous consumption and human capital.” The Economic Journal, September 2012, 933-56. Accessed March 11, 2018.

For this research example, I chose to find an article from Google Scholar. The article I chose is called, Saving Rates and Poverty: The Role of Conspicuous Consumption and Human Capital. It is published in The Economic Journal by Omer Moav and Zvika Neeman. This article is about the conspicuous consumption behavior of low-income individuals. The authors suggest that some lower-income individuals care about economic status, and interpret this behavior as conspicuous consumption intended to provide a status symbol. According to the authors, they show that “If human capital is observable and correlated with income, then a signalling equilibrium in which poor individuals tend to spend a large fraction of their income on conspicuous consumption can emerge.” The article offers a different perspective on saving rates and income, and why those who have a higher income and professional title do not feel the need to purchase conspicuous goods as much as those who make significantly less and do not have a certified accomplishment that conveys social status.

The article’s topic is about conspicuous consumption and human capital, and it’s research question is, “What is the relationship between human capital and an individual’s choice to spend more of their income on conspicuous goods? As this research was published in an economic journal, the type of data that is needed to answer this question is economic. The authors created a model showing the relationship between income and conspicuous spending, and included proofs. To access the type of data they needed, the authors used public and private records to find their economic data. Since the data used is numerical, the method of data analysis is quantitative. I think this research seems legitimate and well thought out. I think since the research was published in an economic journal that it is valid and the authors can be trusted as reliable researchers in their field. However, I do not have a background or a proficiency in economics, therefore the model showing the relationship between income and conspicuous spending did not make much sense to me and I’m not sure how to understand the mathematics behind it. Nonetheless, I think this article was very interesting because it shed a new (mathematical) light on why some low-income people spend more on goods that do not help alleviate poverty, but rather display a symbol of status. It goes to show how important status is in our society, and how important it can be for those who do not have access to education, a high paying job, etc.