Syndicate content   Martin Ravallion's picture      Yet much
social science research in developing countries has confirmed
the social roles of certain forms of consumption—just as Adam
Smith had noted about a linen shirt in 18th century Europe. 
Anthropologists and economists have pointed out that festivals,
celebrations and communal feasts are not just entertainment.
They have an important social role in maintaining the networks
that are crucial to coping with poverty and even escaping it.
Household budget surveys have often revealed seemingly high
expenditures on celebrations and festivals by very poor people.
It is also known that clothing can serve an important social
role. In many developing countries today one can see even very
poor, and evidently undernourished, people with cell phones. And
much research has also suggested that people in poor countries
care about relative deprivation, as typically revealed through
self-reported questions on happiness or satisfaction with life.
But such research findin