Choosing or Inheriting the Joneses: The origins of reference groups

Choosing or Inheriting the Joneses: The origins of reference groups | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Choosing or Inheriting the Joneses: The origins of reference groups Martín Leites, Camila Paleo, Xavier Ramos, Gonzalo Salas This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7594643/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Do individuals choose their reference groups, i.e. their Joneses, or are they culturally transmitted across generations? We provide evidence that feeds the theoretical debate about the origins of reference groups. Our findings for Uruguay suggest that reference groups are largely transmitted across generations and are also shaped by the social environment where individuals live. Our results are robust to several checks and to endogeneity issues. Our analysis of mechanisms shows that transmission is strongest when parents are homogeneous and when the gender of the parent and the offspring is the same. JEL codes: D31, D62, D63, Z13. Intergenerational transmission reference group income comparisons Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 02 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 02 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 28 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Oct, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 30 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 15 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 15 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 11 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7594643","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":524074445,"identity":"56fb309a-ff71-4b54-b152-7cb54bead857","order_by":0,"name":"Martín Leites","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of the Republic","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Martín","middleName":"","lastName":"Leites","suffix":""},{"id":524074446,"identity":"64d06cf1-75c2-4eb9-99e3-0fedaa6d3603","order_by":1,"name":"Camila Paleo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of the Republic","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Camila","middleName":"","lastName":"Paleo","suffix":""},{"id":524074447,"identity":"40980a80-80a1-47e2-863d-1f2f91153816","order_by":2,"name":"Xavier Ramos","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA0UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJCCAxCK+QADYwNpWtgSIFrYiLeMx4A4LQbHzxgeYNxjF83Pf+abxM8dDPL88wm4TrInx+AAw7Pk3JkzcrdJ9p5hMJxxjIAt/AxpCQcYDjDnbrjBu02Ct40hgYGQFjb+ZyAt9bkbzp95JvkXqEWeoC0SyQeAWg7nbjiQwyYNssWAkBbJGY8PHEg4cBzolzRja9kzEoYbjyXg12JwPrH5w4cD1bn9/Icf3ny7w0Ze7vABAtaAAJKxEkQoHwWjYBSMglFAEAAACSNGMBrroLEAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Autonomous University of Barcelona","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xavier","middleName":"","lastName":"Ramos","suffix":""},{"id":524074448,"identity":"b5821d29-3519-4287-8b44-303adc865043","order_by":3,"name":"Gonzalo Salas","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of the Republic","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gonzalo","middleName":"","lastName":"Salas","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-11 19:53:14","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7594643/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7594643/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":93420032,"identity":"41b1b0e0-1776-464a-bb92-cb380672ff96","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-13 16:09:23","extension":"json","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":4774,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"3d2a096f93d44be6800f788f02c4f41f.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7594643/v1/fad3c05af2efdd709b8d65cd.json"},{"id":93420926,"identity":"d825dcb8-8e4b-43df-bdab-f0f21f1f378f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-13 16:10:37","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1463144,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"JoEISubmissionFiles.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7594643/v1_covered_1b235e95-bc90-43f5-8437-4911bfd4a28a.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Choosing or Inheriting the Joneses: The origins of reference groups","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"the-journal-of-economic-inequality","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"joei","sideBox":"Learn more about [The Journal of Economic Inequality](http://link.springer.com/journal/10888)","snPcode":"10888","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10888/3","title":"The Journal of Economic Inequality","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Intergenerational transmission, reference group, income comparisons","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7594643/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7594643/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eDo individuals choose their reference groups, i.e. their Joneses, or are they culturally transmitted across generations? 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