Keeping up with the Joneses: Who loses out?

•Labour supply and well-being if consumers value consumption relative to their peers.•Individuals over-supply labour.•Some induced to work who otherwise would not.•For these well-being is a decreasing function of wage rates.•The worst-off are not those with lowest wage rates.

When individuals compare themselves to those with the same wage-rate, status concerns-Keeping up with the Joneses-lead individuals to work who otherwise would have chosen not to, and, for them, well-being is a decreasing function of the wage rate.

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