Knowledge@wharton

Fashionable clothes jewelry flashy cars.... They are all items of conspicuous consumption that give their owners status on the street. Some groups such as blacks and Hispanics seem to spend more on such emblems of success than others. Or is that just a stereotype? In a new research paper Wharton finance professor Nikolai Roussanov and two co-authors found some truth to the ethnic stereotypes on spending but concluded that the explanation lies in economics not culture. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.