The main goal of this article is to describe the attitudes towards bequests as the motive for saving up for old age. The article reports the results of our own qualitative and quantitative research. The reasons for additional, voluntary saving up for old age, as seen in the conducted qualitative...

This paper provides a novel tax behavior explanation for investor home bias. Specifically, we show that investors are reluctant to hold foreign equity with a tax levied by a foreign tax collector. Starting point is the observation that willingness to pay taxes depends on the attributes of the...

We investigate the impact of a large scale debt waiver program for small agricultural borrowers in India on the short term and long term consumption levels of the beneficiaries. We obtain consumption data from three national level surveys conducted before and after the waiver by a federal...

Using a large, representative sample of high-frequency credit card transactions in the United States, this paper examines the causal effect of sunshine-induced mood on contemporaneous household credit card spending. We document a 0.3 percent increase in credit card spending in response to a...

Using comprehensive high-frequency state and local sales tax data, we show that shopping behavior responds strongly to changes in sales tax rates. Even though sales taxes are not observed in posted prices and have a wide range of rates and exemptions, consumers adjust in many dimensions. They...

Using a large, representative sample of credit and debit card transactions in Singapore, this paper studies the consumption response of individuals whose same-building neighbors experienced personal bankruptcy. The unique bankruptcy rules in Singapore suggest liquidity shocks drive personal...

Higher sales tax in the home country relative to a neighboring country creates a huge incentive for consumers who live closer to the border to purchase goods across the border. Using a unique panel dataset of consumer financial transactions, we find that, when facing higher domestic sales tax,...

Higher sales tax in the home country relative to a neighboring country creates a huge incentive for consumers who live closer to the border to purchase goods across the border. Using a unique panel dataset of consumer financial transactions, we find that, when facing higher domestic sales tax,...

Using representative household surveys conducted in Thailand and Vietnam during the COVID-19 pandemic, we find that the marginal propensity to consume is signicantly larger for positive than for negative income shocks. Moreover, we discover that the savings position plays a crucial role, as the...

We use a new panel dataset of credit card accounts to analyze how consumer responded to the 2001 Federal income tax rebates. We estimate the monthly response of credit card payments, spending, and debt, exploiting the unique, randomized timing of the rebate disbursement. We find that, on...