This paper empirically examines the behavioral precautionary saving hypothesis that uncertainty about future income triggers an increase in saving because of loss aversion. Guided by the theoretical model of Koszegi and Rabin (2009), we first extend their theoretical analysis to also consider...

Many people save too little for retirement. This paper studies – using a stated choice experiment – whether simplicity and flexibility can increase the demand for retirement products. We compare the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for self-employed workers and employees, and find that the...

Broadly diversified equity portfolios that pursue the size, value, and profitability premiums can help investors enter retirement with more assets, better sustain their retirement spending, and pass on larger bequests. Our study finds that even moderate exposure to the premiums can significantly...

We use Norwegian administrative panel data on wealth and income between 1993 and 2015 to study lifecycle wealth dynamics, focusing on the wealthiest households. On average, the wealthiest start their lives substantially richer than other households in the same cohort, own mostly private equity,...

We study a retirement savings plan with a default contribution rate of 12% of income, which is much higher than previously studied defaults. Twenty-five percent of employees had not opted out of this default 12 months after hire; a literature review finds that the corresponding fraction in plans...

Consumer payments in the United States gradually have been shifting away from paper checks for the past several years. Cash use has declined as well, although at a much slower pace. As the number of check payments has decreased, those payments have been replaced with electronic and card...

This paper studies how and why consumers respond to unexpected, transitory income shocks. In a randomized control trial, I elicit marginal propensities to consume (MPC) out of different hypothetical income shock scenarios, varying the payment mode, the shock size, and the source of income. The...

We conduct an ex-ante evaluation of a health insurance reform in Chile that mandates non-discriminatory premiums with respect to age and gender in the private health insurance system. A counterfactual analysis is performed using an estimated model of consumption-saving with a binary...

Poverty is typically measured as insufficient yearly income or consumption. In practice, however, poverty is marked by seasonality, economic instability, and illiquidity across months. To capture within-year variability, we extend traditional poverty measures to include a temporal dimension....

Despite persistent efforts to deal with life's economic challenges, most Ghanaians are financially insecure, making the pursuit of lifelong goals more difficult. Given these realities, financial literacy and consumer financial stability appear viable strategies for promoting economic stability....