The literature has mixed results on how formal insurance affects informal risk sharing. Whether such effect is motivated extrinsically or intrinsically also remains unclear. We design a lab experiment in which formal insurance is introduced and removed unexpected and the insurance purchase...

We analyze the distributional consequences of uncertainty shocks in the U.S. economy at a business cycle frequency. Our findings reveal that uncertainty shocks have heterogeneous effects across income and wealth distribution. While their impact on income inequality appears marginal when measured...