Im Jahr 2006 gaben die privaten Haushalte in Deutschland 1 283 Mrd. € für diverse Waren und Dienstleistungen im Inland aus. Das waren etwa 2,2% mehr als im Vorjahr, was preisbereinigt einem Zuwachs von 0,8% entspricht. Der Einzelhandel, ohne Handel mit Kraftfahrzeugen und ohne Tankstellen,...

As households reduce discretionary spending in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns are high that a resulting fall in aggregate demand can lead to a lasting recession post-COVID-19. Consequently, policies aimed at stimulating consumer spending are of key interest to governments working to...

Im Jahr 2006 gaben die privaten Haushalte in Deutschland 1 283 Mrd. € für diverse Waren und Dienstleistungen im Inland aus. Das waren etwa 2,2% mehr als im Vorjahr, was preisbereinigt einem Zuwachs von 0,8% entspricht. Der Einzelhandel, ohne Handel mit Kraftfahrzeugen und ohne Tankstellen,...

We analyze the impact of a temporary shock to food supply on households’ dietary choices. We use hurricane-induced closures of grocery stores, focusing on temporary closures. Results show that store closures influence households’ purchasing patterns even after the grocery store has reopened....

Sales tax holidays (STHs) are the temporary suspension of state (and some local) sales taxes on selected retail items for a brief period of time. The policy has gained popularity in recent years, beginning in one state in 1997and growing to twenty by 2008. Despite the increased frequency with...

This paper combines several administrative data and a survey experiment to evaluate the role of lifestyle changes in influencing inflation expectations. Using data from Nielsen's Homescan Panel, as well as a leading bank in Singapore, we first document that households are upgrading across...

Many macro-economists argue that productivity is low in developing countries because of frictions that impede the adoption of modern technologies. I argue that in the retail trade sector, which employs just under twenty percent of the workforce on average, developing countries rationally choose...

This paper investigates market concentration in the US retail sector. We use store and household-level consumption micro-data from 2004-2019 to document four facts linked by a decomposition: 1) rising national concentration, 2) negligible change in regional concentration, 3) rising household...

We use Canadian home scanner data to study household food inflation rates during periods of low and high inflation. We find that during the post-pandemic surge in inflation, the actual inflation rates experienced by different households varied more widely. Low-income households faced higher...

This paper investigates the efficiency properties of tax competition between submetropolitan jurisdictions when capital, residents and workers are mobile, and both households and firms compete for local land markets. We analyze two decentralized equilibria: (1) with a local tax on residents and...