cometadata/datacite-titles-descriptions-related-identifiers huggingface dataset:
DOI: 10.3886/e116534v1
title: Replication data for: How Do 401(k)s Affect Saving? Evidence from Changes in 401(k) Eligibility

description: This paper investigates the effect of 401(k) eligibility on saving. To address the possibility that eligibility correlates across individuals with their unobserved tastes for saving, I examine a change in eligibility: some individuals are initially ineligible for their 401(k) but become eligible when they have worked at their firm long enough. I find that eligibility raises 401(k) balances. Other financial assets and net worth respond insignificantly to eligibility, but the confidence intervals do not rule out substantial responses. In response to eligibility, IRA assets increase, consistent with a "crowd-in" hypothesis, and accumulation of cars decreases.(JEL D14, E21, J26)
DOI: 10.3886/e116535v1
title: Replication data for: Did Bankruptcy Reform Cause Mortgage Defaults to Rise?

description: Homeowners in financial distress can use bankruptcy to avoid defaulting on their mortgages, since filing loosens their budget constraints. But the 2005 bankruptcy reform made bankruptcy less favorable to homeowners and therefore caused mortgage defaults to rise. We test this relationship and find that the reform caused prime and subprime mortgage default rates to rise by 23% and 14%, respectively. Default rates rose even more for homeowners who were particularly negatively affected by the reform. We calculate that bankruptcy reform caused mortgage default rates to rise by one percentage point even before the start of the financial crisis. (JEL D14, G01, G21, K35)
DOI: 10.3886/e116536v1
title: Replication data for: Just Keep My Money! Supporting Tax-Time Savings with US Savings Bonds

description: This paper reports the results of a 2007 experiment testing whether specific process simplification can foster increased take-up rates for savings products, particularly by low-to-moderate income (LMI) households. Tax refund recipients at certain H&R Block tax preparation offices were given the option to purchase US Savings Bonds with their tax refunds, augmenting the tax-site savings options offered by H&R Block. Those who received the savings bond offer were substantially more likely to purchase a savings product on-site than those who didn't, even after controlling for client demographics. Much of this take-up was directed at intra-family gifting, or asset building on behalf of children. (JEL D14, H24)
DOI: 10.3886/e116193
title: Replication data for: Consumer Spending during Unemployment: Positive and Normative Implications

description: Using de-identified bank account data, we show that spending drops sharply at the large and predictable decrease in income arising from the exhaustion of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. We use the high-frequency response to a predictable income decline as a new test to distinguish between alternative consumption models. The sensitivity of spending to income we document is inconsistent with rational models of liquidity-constrained households, but is consistent with behavioral models with present-biased or myopic households. Depressed spending after exhaustion also implies that the consumption-smoothing gains from extending UI benefits are four times larger than from raising UI benefit levels.
DOI: 10.3886/e116193v1
title: Replication data for: Consumer Spending during Unemployment: Positive and Normative Implications

description: Using de-identified bank account data, we show that spending drops sharply at the large and predictable decrease in income arising from the exhaustion of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. We use the high-frequency response to a predictable income decline as a new test to distinguish between alternative consumption models. The sensitivity of spending to income we document is inconsistent with rational models of liquidity-constrained households, but is consistent with behavioral models with present-biased or myopic households. Depressed spending after exhaustion also implies that the consumption-smoothing gains from extending UI benefits are four times larger than from raising UI benefit levels.
DOI: 10.3886/e116194
title: Replication data for: Capital Accumulation, Private Property, and Rising Inequality in China, 1978–2015

description: We combine national accounts, surveys, and new tax data to study the accumulation and distribution of income and wealth in China from 1978 to 2015. The national wealth-income ratio increased from 350 percent in 1978 to 700 percent in 2015, while the share of public property in national wealth declined from 70 percent to 30 percent. We provide sharp upward revision of official inequality estimates. The top 10 percent income share rose from 27 percent to 41 percent between 1978 and 2015; the bottom 50 percent share dropped from 27 percent to 15 percent. China's inequality levels used to be close to Nordic countries and are now approaching US levels.
DOI: 10.3886/e116194v1
title: Replication data for: Capital Accumulation, Private Property, and Rising Inequality in China, 1978–2015

description: We combine national accounts, surveys, and new tax data to study the accumulation and distribution of income and wealth in China from 1978 to 2015. The national wealth-income ratio increased from 350 percent in 1978 to 700 percent in 2015, while the share of public property in national wealth declined from 70 percent to 30 percent. We provide sharp upward revision of official inequality estimates. The top 10 percent income share rose from 27 percent to 41 percent between 1978 and 2015; the bottom 50 percent share dropped from 27 percent to 15 percent. China's inequality levels used to be close to Nordic countries and are now approaching US levels.
DOI: 10.3886/e116195
title: Replication data for: Parents' Beliefs about Their Children's Academic Ability: Implications for Educational Investments

description: Schools worldwide distribute information to parents about their children's academic performance. Do frictions prevent parents, particularly low-income parents, from accessing this information to make decisions? A field experiment in Malawi shows that, at baseline, parents' beliefs about their children's academic performance are often inaccurate. Providing parents with clear, digestible performance information causes them to update their beliefs and adjust their investments: they increase the school enrollment of their higher-performing children, decrease the enrollment of lower-performing children, and choose educational inputs that are more closely matched to their children's academic level. Heterogeneity analysis suggests information frictions are worse among the poor.
DOI: 10.3886/e116195v1
title: Replication data for: Parents' Beliefs about Their Children's Academic Ability: Implications for Educational Investments

description: Schools worldwide distribute information to parents about their children's academic performance. Do frictions prevent parents, particularly low-income parents, from accessing this information to make decisions? A field experiment in Malawi shows that, at baseline, parents' beliefs about their children's academic performance are often inaccurate. Providing parents with clear, digestible performance information causes them to update their beliefs and adjust their investments: they increase the school enrollment of their higher-performing children, decrease the enrollment of lower-performing children, and choose educational inputs that are more closely matched to their children's academic level. Heterogeneity analysis suggests information frictions are worse among the poor.
DOI: 10.3886/e116301
title: Replication data for: The Response of Household Saving to the Large Shock of German Reunification

description: German reunification was a large, unexpected shock for East Germans. Exploiting German reunification as a natural experiment, I analyze the validity of the life-cycle consumption model. I derive three stylized features concerning the saving behavior of East versus West Germans after reunification: (i) East Germans have higher saving rates than West Germans; (ii) this East-West gap is increasing in age at reunification; and (iii) for every cohort, this gap is declining over time. I show that a comprehensive life-cycle model can replicate these features. The precautionary saving motive is essential for the success of the model. (JEL D14, D91, E21)
DOI: 10.3886/e116301v1
title: Replication data for: The Response of Household Saving to the Large Shock of German Reunification

description: German reunification was a large, unexpected shock for East Germans. Exploiting German reunification as a natural experiment, I analyze the validity of the life-cycle consumption model. I derive three stylized features concerning the saving behavior of East versus West Germans after reunification: (i) East Germans have higher saving rates than West Germans; (ii) this East-West gap is increasing in age at reunification; and (iii) for every cohort, this gap is declining over time. I show that a comprehensive life-cycle model can replicate these features. The precautionary saving motive is essential for the success of the model. (JEL D14, D91, E21)
DOI: 10.3886/e116302
title: Replication data for: Group Identity and Social Preferences

description: We present a laboratory experiment that measures the effects of induced group identity on social preferences. We find that when participants are matched with an ingroup member, they show a 47 percent increase in charity concerns and a 93 percent decrease in envy. Likewise, participants are 19 percent more likely to reward an ingroup match for good behavior, but 13 percent less likely to punish an ingroup match for misbehavior. Furthermore, participants are significantly more likely to choose social-welfare-maximizing actions when matched with an ingroup member. All results are consistent with the hypothesis that participants are more altruistic toward an ingroup match. (JEL C91, D03, Z13)
DOI: 10.3886/e116302v1
title: Replication data for: Group Identity and Social Preferences

description: We present a laboratory experiment that measures the effects of induced group identity on social preferences. We find that when participants are matched with an ingroup member, they show a 47 percent increase in charity concerns and a 93 percent decrease in envy. Likewise, participants are 19 percent more likely to reward an ingroup match for good behavior, but 13 percent less likely to punish an ingroup match for misbehavior. Furthermore, participants are significantly more likely to choose social-welfare-maximizing actions when matched with an ingroup member. All results are consistent with the hypothesis that participants are more altruistic toward an ingroup match. (JEL C91, D03, Z13)
DOI: 10.3886/e116303
title: Replication data for: Liquidity Constraints and Imperfect Information in Subprime Lending

description: We present new evidence on consumer liquidity constraints and the credit market conditions that might give rise to them. We analyze unique data from a large auto sales company serving the subprime market. Short-term liquidity appears to be a key driver of consumer behavior. Demand increases sharply during tax rebate season and purchases are highly sensitive to down-payment requirements. Lenders also face substantial informational problems. Default rates rise significantly with loan size, providing a rationale for loan caps, and higher-risk borrowers demand larger loans. This adverse selection is mitigated, however, by risk-based pricing. (JEL D14, D82, D83, G21)
DOI: 10.3886/e116303v1
title: Replication data for: Liquidity Constraints and Imperfect Information in Subprime Lending

description: We present new evidence on consumer liquidity constraints and the credit market conditions that might give rise to them. We analyze unique data from a large auto sales company serving the subprime market. Short-term liquidity appears to be a key driver of consumer behavior. Demand increases sharply during tax rebate season and purchases are highly sensitive to down-payment requirements. Lenders also face substantial informational problems. Default rates rise significantly with loan size, providing a rationale for loan caps, and higher-risk borrowers demand larger loans. This adverse selection is mitigated, however, by risk-based pricing. (JEL D14, D82, D83, G21)
DOI: 10.3886/e116304v1
title: Replication data for: Spousal Control and Intra-household Decision Making: An Experimental Study in the Philippines

description: I elicit causal effects of spousal observability and communication on financial choices of married individuals in the Philippines. When choices are private, men put money into their personal accounts. When choices are observable, men commit money to consumption for their own benefit. When required to communicate, men put money into their wives' account. These strong treatment effects on men, but not women, appear related more to control than to gender: men whose wives control household savings respond more strongly to the treatment and women whose husbands control savings exhibit the same response. Changes in information and communication interact with underlying control to produce mutable gender-specific outcomes. (JEL D13, D14, J12, J16, O15)
DOI: 10.3886/e116534
title: Replication data for: How Do 401(k)s Affect Saving? Evidence from Changes in 401(k) Eligibility

description: This paper investigates the effect of 401(k) eligibility on saving. To address the possibility that eligibility correlates across individuals with their unobserved tastes for saving, I examine a change in eligibility: some individuals are initially ineligible for their 401(k) but become eligible when they have worked at their firm long enough. I find that eligibility raises 401(k) balances. Other financial assets and net worth respond insignificantly to eligibility, but the confidence intervals do not rule out substantial responses. In response to eligibility, IRA assets increase, consistent with a "crowd-in" hypothesis, and accumulation of cars decreases.(JEL D14, E21, J26)
DOI: 10.3886/e116535
title: Replication data for: Did Bankruptcy Reform Cause Mortgage Defaults to Rise?

description: Homeowners in financial distress can use bankruptcy to avoid defaulting on their mortgages, since filing loosens their budget constraints. But the 2005 bankruptcy reform made bankruptcy less favorable to homeowners and therefore caused mortgage defaults to rise. We test this relationship and find that the reform caused prime and subprime mortgage default rates to rise by 23% and 14%, respectively. Default rates rose even more for homeowners who were particularly negatively affected by the reform. We calculate that bankruptcy reform caused mortgage default rates to rise by one percentage point even before the start of the financial crisis. (JEL D14, G01, G21, K35)
DOI: 10.3886/e116536
title: Replication data for: Just Keep My Money! Supporting Tax-Time Savings with US Savings Bonds

description: This paper reports the results of a 2007 experiment testing whether specific process simplification can foster increased take-up rates for savings products, particularly by low-to-moderate income (LMI) households. Tax refund recipients at certain H&R Block tax preparation offices were given the option to purchase US Savings Bonds with their tax refunds, augmenting the tax-site savings options offered by H&R Block. Those who received the savings bond offer were substantially more likely to purchase a savings product on-site than those who didn't, even after controlling for client demographics. Much of this take-up was directed at intra-family gifting, or asset building on behalf of children. (JEL D14, H24)
DOI: 10.3886/e116537
title: Replication data for: Personal Retirement Accounts and Saving

description: Aging populations are leading countries worldwide to social security reforms. Many countries are moving from pay-as-you-go to personal retirement account (PRA) systems because of their financial sustainability and positive impact on private savings. PRA systems boost private savings at a macro level by converting a government liability into financial wealth managed by private fund managers. However, at a micro level, changes in retirement wealth affect individuals' saving and consumption patterns through their working lives. Retirement wealth increased for lower-income workers after Mexico introduced PRAs, crowding out saving, increasing consumption, and offsetting some of the PRA effect on private savings. (JEL D14, E21, H55, J26, O16)
DOI: 10.3886/e116537v1
title: Replication data for: Personal Retirement Accounts and Saving

description: Aging populations are leading countries worldwide to social security reforms. Many countries are moving from pay-as-you-go to personal retirement account (PRA) systems because of their financial sustainability and positive impact on private savings. PRA systems boost private savings at a macro level by converting a government liability into financial wealth managed by private fund managers. However, at a micro level, changes in retirement wealth affect individuals' saving and consumption patterns through their working lives. Retirement wealth increased for lower-income workers after Mexico introduced PRAs, crowding out saving, increasing consumption, and offsetting some of the PRA effect on private savings. (JEL D14, E21, H55, J26, O16)
DOI: 10.3886/e116538
title: Replication data for: Capital Income Taxes with Heterogeneous Discount Rates

description: With heterogeneity in both skills and discount factors, the Atkinson- Stiglitz theorem that savings should not be taxed does not hold. In a model with heterogeneity of preferences at each earnings level, introducing a savings tax on high earners or a savings subsidy on low earners increases welfare, regardless of the correlation between ability and discount factor. Extending Emmanuel Saez (2002), a uniform savings tax increases welfare if that correlation is sufficiently high. Key for the results is that types who value future consumption less are more tempted by a lower paid job. Some optimal tax results and empirical evidence are presented. (JEL D14, H21, H24)
DOI: 10.3886/e116538v1
title: Replication data for: Capital Income Taxes with Heterogeneous Discount Rates

description: With heterogeneity in both skills and discount factors, the Atkinson- Stiglitz theorem that savings should not be taxed does not hold. In a model with heterogeneity of preferences at each earnings level, introducing a savings tax on high earners or a savings subsidy on low earners increases welfare, regardless of the correlation between ability and discount factor. Extending Emmanuel Saez (2002), a uniform savings tax increases welfare if that correlation is sufficiently high. Key for the results is that types who value future consumption less are more tempted by a lower paid job. Some optimal tax results and empirical evidence are presented. (JEL D14, H21, H24)
DOI: 10.3886/e116196
title: Replication data for: Who Pays for the Minimum Wage?

description: This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of the margins along which firms responded to a large and persistent minimum wage increase in Hungary. We show that employment elasticities are negative but small even four years after the reform; that around 75 percent of the minimum wage increase was paid by consumers and 25 percent by firm owners; that firms responded to the minimum wage by substituting labor with capital; and that disemployment effects were greater in industries where passing the wage costs to consumers is more difficult. We estimate a model with monopolistic competition to explain these findings.
DOI: 10.3886/e116196v1
title: Replication data for: Who Pays for the Minimum Wage?

description: This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of the margins along which firms responded to a large and persistent minimum wage increase in Hungary. We show that employment elasticities are negative but small even four years after the reform; that around 75 percent of the minimum wage increase was paid by consumers and 25 percent by firm owners; that firms responded to the minimum wage by substituting labor with capital; and that disemployment effects were greater in industries where passing the wage costs to consumers is more difficult. We estimate a model with monopolistic competition to explain these findings.
DOI: 10.3886/e116304
title: Replication data for: Spousal Control and Intra-household Decision Making: An Experimental Study in the Philippines

description: I elicit causal effects of spousal observability and communication on financial choices of married individuals in the Philippines. When choices are private, men put money into their personal accounts. When choices are observable, men commit money to consumption for their own benefit. When required to communicate, men put money into their wives' account. These strong treatment effects on men, but not women, appear related more to control than to gender: men whose wives control household savings respond more strongly to the treatment and women whose husbands control savings exhibit the same response. Changes in information and communication interact with underlying control to produce mutable gender-specific outcomes. (JEL D13, D14, J12, J16, O15)
DOI: 10.3886/e116305
title: Replication data for: Connecting Student Loans to Labor Market Outcomes: Policy Lessons from Chile

description: Rising student loan default rates and protests over debt suggest that many students make college enrollment and financing choices they regret. Policymakers have considered tying the availability of federally subsidized loans at degree programs to financial outcomes for past students. This paper considers the implementation of such a policy in Chile. We describe how loan repayment varied by degree type at baseline, the design of the loan reform, and how earnings-based loan caps change availability of loans and incentives for students and higher education institutions. We discuss the challenges facing policymakers seeking to link loan availability to earnings outcomes.
DOI: 10.3886/e116305v1
title: Replication data for: Connecting Student Loans to Labor Market Outcomes: Policy Lessons from Chile

description: Rising student loan default rates and protests over debt suggest that many students make college enrollment and financing choices they regret. Policymakers have considered tying the availability of federally subsidized loans at degree programs to financial outcomes for past students. This paper considers the implementation of such a policy in Chile. We describe how loan repayment varied by degree type at baseline, the design of the loan reform, and how earnings-based loan caps change availability of loans and incentives for students and higher education institutions. We discuss the challenges facing policymakers seeking to link loan availability to earnings outcomes.
DOI: 10.3886/e116306
title: Replication data for: Testing for the Disposition Effect on Optimal Stopping Decisions

description: This paper develops a new laboratory test of the hypothesis that individual investors sell winners too early and ride losers too long. In the experiment, subjects invest in a risky asset, whose price evolves in near-continuous time, and they are provided with the option to liquidate it at a fixed salvage value. Optimal behavior is characterized by an upper and a lower stopping thresholds in the asset price space, thus producing a clear rational benchmark and eliminating known confounds. This design allows me to detect and quantify the disposition effect in a sample of 108 subjects.