Österreichischer Alpenverein

In economics, there is a growing body of research that suggests that many people have so-called "positional preferences". A positional individual derives utility from their consumption relative to that of others. Let's use an example. Suppose that you own a 5 year old car. It works reasonably well and takes you wherever you want to go. You are quite happy with it. Now suppose that you get a visit from your brother or son in law, ...