We document that the interest rate response to fiscal stimulus (IRRF) is lower in countries with high inequality or high household debt. To interpret this evidence we develop a model in which households take on debt to maintain a consumption threshold (saving constraint). Now debt-burdened,...

Bills to expand individual retirement accounts have been introduced in both houses of Congress this year. While proponents argue that these accounts can help reverse the nation's declining saving rate, recent economic research suggests that the effect of the accounts on savings is in fact quite...

This paper examines the macroeconomic implications of life-cycle and dynastic saving behavior for closed and small, open economies. Using an extended version of Blanchard`s overlapping agents model, the analytical framework nests these two competing views, treating agents as either dynastic...

We evaluate the consistency of two methods for estimating the effect of an economic policy: i) surveying people to report the change in their behavior caused by the policy, ii) inferring this change using (reported) actual behavior and differences in treatment across people. Both methods have...

This paper exploits an administrative regulation in Singapore that allows individuals to withdraw between 10 to 30 percent of their pension savings at age 55. We find a large and highly significant increase in individuals' bank account balances within the first month of turning 55, which...

This paper offers new empirical evidence on the marginal propensity to consume out of an unanticipated liquidity shock. A Danish 2012 policy reform reduced the incentive to retire early in order to increase labour supply but at the same time the policy released a substantial amount of savings...

In this paper, we estimate the effect of a tax policy change on households' consumption and retirement savings behavior, by using a unique panel data of voluntary retirement savings (PPF) and debit card spending transactions. On average, we find that households reduce their consumption by 14%...

We document that the interest rate response to fiscal stimulus (IRRF) is lower in countries with high inequality or high household debt. To interpret this evidence we develop a model in which households take on debt to maintain a consumption threshold (saving constraint). Now debt-burdened,...

To incentivize households to increase private savings, the Indian government implemented in July 2014 a new tax-subsidized saving policy that largely incentivizes homeowners by allowing them to exempt an additional 50,000 INR ($833) of the mortgage principal and interest payments from taxable...

This paper offers new empirical evidence on the marginal propensity to consume out of an unanticipated liquidity shock. A Danish 2012 policy reform reduced the incentive to retire early in order to increase labour supply but at the same time the policy released a substantial amount of savings...