Using a novel scanner data and difference-in-difference strategy, we assess how consumers respond to a large-scale tax reform in India that introduces exogenous variations in tax rate changes at the product level. We show evidence of a strong and persistent spending response to tax rate changes....

We study the effects of information treatments on mitigating the negative impacts on demand at specific locations with a survey experiment. Using two randomly assigned information treatments targeting Hubei products, we document that the respondents are more likely to choose a similar non-Hubei...

For thousands of years, the use of alcoholic beverages has been an intrinsic component of human culture. While existing research has documented the correlation between alcohol consumption and various health problems, the correlational evidence appears inconsistent and the causation has not yet...

This paper exploits a natural experiment in India – Inflation Targeting to study how changes in inflation expectations influence households’ consumption, savings, and investments in risky assets. Using regional heterogeneity in inflation expectations by city and city-age-gender bins due to...

Singapore has one of the strictest debt relief systems worldwide. We merge a large dataset on the residences of adult Singaporean citizens with a bankruptcy dataset to investigate the effect of parental bankruptcy on children’s financial behavior in adulthood. Children whose parents declared...

We study the interaction of search and application approval in credit markets. We combine a unique dataset, which details search behavior for a large sample of mortgage borrowers, with loan application and rejection decisions. Our data reveal substantial dispersion in mortgage rates and search...

We study the evolution of labor demand during the COVID-19 pandemic using detailed online job posting data. Following the Wuhan lockdown, firms adjusted their hiring practices swiftly. The response exhibits substantial heterogeneity across different industries. We also document that the labor...

We document that increasing penalties for default reduces strategic default in financial crises by exploiting the 2009 changes to Canadian consumer insolvency regulations. Our novelty is that the incentives from increasing penalties for default operate in the opposite direction from incentives...

Hong Kong introduced a Tobin property tax—the Special Stamp Duty (SSD) Policy—in 2010, which substantially increased the selling costs of short-term property holders. This study examines the effectiveness of this Tobin property tax in curbing speculation and cooling down the market. We find...