Volume 2 - Issue 4, July - August 2026

While aggregate macroeconomic indicators like Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report market growth, they frequently obscure the localized financial strains experienced by individual households. This paper presents the first practical empirical application of the Relative Prosperity Friction Index (RPFI), a framework designed to measure "liquid joy" against systemic economic friction. Utilizing a cross-sectional dataset of 1,200 urban households stratified by income deciles, we operationalize the four core variables of the RPFI: disposable income, debt servicing burdens, localized core inflation gaps, and a subjective economic sentiment modifier. The empirical results validate the index’s capacity to identify systemic distress, mapping distinct segments of the population into the mathematically defined "Thrive," "Treading Water," and "Friction" zones. Our findings demonstrate that traditional metrics overstate well-being in mid-to-lower income brackets, proving the RPFI to be a more granular and accurate heuristic for contemporary socioeconomic analysis.

Florin Alexandru Stan, Ștefan Botoncea,"Empirical Validation of the Relative Prosperity Friction Index (RPFI): A Cross-Sectional Case Study of Urban Households" International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Research and Educational Development, V2(4): Page(25-28) July - August 2026. ISSN: 3107-6513. www.ijamred.com. Published by Scientific and Academic Research Publishing.