I use evidence from a $300 tax rebate to test whether receipt of this cash infusion by payday borrowers affects the likelihood of borrowing, loan sizes, or default behavior. Results from fixed-effects models show that the rebate decreased the probability of taking out a payday loan in the short...

When the financial positions of pension funds worsen, regulations prescribe that pension funds reduce the gap between their assets (invested contributions) and their liabilities (accumulated pension promises). This paper quantifies the business cycle effects and distributional implications of...

Pension trends in the United States, marked by the movement toward defined contribution (DC) plans, raise questions about the individual characteristics that influence retirement saving behavior. This study examines how DC participants' industry and employer characteristics relate to the...

This paper studies the labour market effects of pension fund restoration plans at a business cycle frequency. During a recession, pension funds' funding ratios typically drop significantly and regulations force funds to restore their buffers by increasing their contributions, lower future...

We investigate the influence of investment regulations on the riskiness and procyclicality of defined-benefit (DB) pension funds' asset allocations. We provide a global comparison of the regulatory framework for public, corporate and industry pension funds in the US, Canada and the Netherlands....

This paper examines an unconventional, but potentially effective, new fiscal policy tool that can increase saving during good times and increase spending during bad times -- a cyclical matching rate on contributions to retirement savings accounts. The combination of matching rates and matching...