315 research outputs found
Replication data for: "Behavioral Impediments to Valuing Annuities: Complexity and Choice Bracketing"
No full textBrown, Jeffrey R., Kapteyn, Arie, Luttmer, Erzo F. P., Mitchell, Olivia S., and Samek, Anya, (2021) “Behavioral Impediments to Valuing Annuities: Complexity and Choice Bracketing.” Review of Economics and Statistics 103:3, 533–546
Replication data for: "Behavioral Impediments to Valuing Annuities: Complexity and Choice Bracketing"
No full textBrown, Jeffrey R., Kapteyn, Arie, Luttmer, Erzo F. P., Mitchell, Olivia S., and Samek, Anya, (2021) “Behavioral Impediments to Valuing Annuities: Complexity and Choice Bracketing.” Review of Economics and Statistics 103:3, 533–546
New Goods and the Size Distribution of Firms∗
No full textThis paper describes a simple model of aggregate and firm growth based on the introduction of new goods. An incumbent firm can combine labor with blueprints for goods it already produces to develop new blueprints. Every worker in the economy is also a potential entrepreneur who can design a new blueprint from scratch and set up a new firm. The implied firm size distribution closely matches the fat tail observed in the data when the marginal entrepreneur is far out in the tail of the entrepreneurial skill distribution. The model produces a variance of firm growth that declines with size. But the decline is more rapid than suggested by the evidence. The model also predicts a new-firm entry rate equal to only 2.5 % per annum, instead of the observed rate of 10 % in U.S. data. ∗Luttmer, University of Minnesota and Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. This is a report on ongoing research. The second half of this paper mimics parts of Luttmer [2006b]. Comments welcome. The views expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis or the Federal Reserve System. 1
Would People Behave Differently If They Better Understood Social Security? Evidence From a Field Experiment
No full textThis paper presents the results of a field experiment in which a sample of older workers was randomized between a treatment group that was given information about key Social Security provisions and a control group that was not. The experiment was designed to examine whether it is possible to affect individual behavior using a relatively inexpensive informational intervention about the provisions of a public program and to explore the mechanisms underlying the behavior change. We find that our relatively mild intervention (sending an informational brochure and an invitation to a web-tutorial) increased labor force participation one year later by 4 percentage points relative to the control group mean of 74 percent and that this effect is driven by a 7.2 percentage point increase among female subjects. In addition to affecting actual labor supply behavior, the information intervention increased survey measures of the perceived returns to working longer, especially among female respondents.
Culture, Context, and the Taste for Redistribution
No full textIs culture an important determinant of preferences for redistribution? To separate the effect of culture from the effect of the economic and institutional environment ("context"), we relate immigrants' preferences for redistribution to the average preference in their birth countries, controlling extensively for individual characteristics and country-of-residence fixed effects. We find a strong positive relationship. This cultural effect is larger for non-voters, those with shorter tenure in the country of residence, and those who move to countries with a large number of immigrants from their own birth countries. Immigrants from countries with a higher preference for redistribution are also more likely to vote for a more pro-redistribution political party. The effect of culture persists strongly into the second generation.
Political Jurisdictions in Heterogeneous Communities
No full textWe investigate the number and size of local political jurisdictions are determined, by focusing on the tradeoff between the benefits of economies of scale and the costs of a heterogeneous population. We consider heterogeneity in income, race, ethnicity, and religion, and we test the model using American school districts, school attendance areas, municipalities, and special districts. Using cross-sectional and panel analysis, we find very little evidence of tradeoffs between economies of scale and ethnic or religious heterogeneity. However, we find evidence of a tradeoff between economies of scale and income heterogeneity and particularly strong evidence of a tradeoff between economies of scale and racial heterogeneity. To clarify the direction of causality between heterogeneity and jurisdictions, we exploit shocks to racial heterogeneity generated by the two World Wars.
Approaches to Estimating the Health State Dependence of the Utility Function
No full textIf the marginal utility of consumption depends on health status, this will affect the economic analysis of a number of central problems in public finance, including the optimal structure of health insurance and optimal life cycle savings. In this paper, we describe the promises and challenges of various approaches to estimating the effect of health on the marginal utility of consumption. Our basic conclusion is that while none of these approaches is a panacea, many offer the potential to shed important insights on the nature of health state dependence.
Approaches to Estimating the Health State Dependence of the Utility Function
No full textIf the marginal utility of consumption depends on health status, this will affect the economic analysis of a number of central problems in public finance, including the optimal structure of health insurance and optimal life cycle savings. In this paper, we describe the promises and challenges of various approaches to estimating the effect of health on the marginal utility of consumption. Our basic conclusion is that while none of these approaches is a panacea, many offer the potential to shed important insights on the nature of health state dependence.insurance, health, state dependence, marginal utility
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