We are all "middle class" : Subjective perceptions of social class in Argentina

This paper studies the determinants of individual perceptions of social class. We use a purpose-built survey representative of the Greater Buenos Aires area in Argentina. The main finding is that three quarters of the population believes to be middle class, because of the simultaneous effect of a bi...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Tetaz, Martín
Formato: Objeto de conferencia
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2009
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/169312
Aporte de:
Descripción
Sumario:This paper studies the determinants of individual perceptions of social class. We use a purpose-built survey representative of the Greater Buenos Aires area in Argentina. The main finding is that three quarters of the population believes to be middle class, because of the simultaneous effect of a bias in the self-perceived position in the income distribution and an overestimation of the level of income required to belong to the high class. Although low income individuals correctly self classify themselves as low class, high income agents systematically fail to differentiate themselves from those with average incomes. Interestingly, we find that education levels have a strong effect on self perceptions of social class, over and above its effect on income.