Viewing 4 posts categorized under Consumer Behavior
July 9, 2022
This paper studies the effect of monetary policy across households of different Euro Area countries to understand the effects of the likely scenario of future interest rate hikes by the European Central Bank. Specifically, the paper studies mechanisms through which monetary policy may differentially affect households across the Euro Area.
The rise in interest rates should be especially relevant to those countries with high debt levels, like Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain.
June 22, 2020
While experts had warned about the likelihood of a pandemic given the increasing frequency of outbreaks in this century, SARS-CoV-2 caught the world largely unprepared. Over the last century, pandemics have been responsible for more deaths than armed conflicts. Their impact on economic activity is also overwhelming. This paper presents early evidence of the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the Portuguese economy.
The paper uses novel and comprehensive data on electronic payments from SIBS, the main provider of point of sale terminals and on-line payments in Portugal.
February 26, 2020
How does personal consumption evolve over the life-cycle? According to the permanent income/life-cycle theory of consumption, primarily associated with Milton Friedman and Franco Modigliani, the answer to this question is that consumers try to smooth consumption over time, with significant adjustments occurring only in the event of permanent shocks to income. Empirical studies of consumption behavior, however, tend to find that consumption presents a hump-shaped pattern, mimicking the life-cycle pattern of income.
October 3, 2019
More than 40 countries around the world and a handful of American cities have introduced, or are considering introducing, soda taxes. In addition to raising tax revenues, these instruments aim to reduce the consumption of products whose prices do not reflect their true social costs, by making them comparatively more expensive (and increasing awareness about the negative effects of their consumption). Tobacco and alcohol taxes are classic such examples. The same rationale applies to soda (and other unhealthy foods and drinks): excessive sugar intake from soda is associated with higher prevalence of diseases such as obesity and diabetes, with the costs of treating these diseases falling on everyone.