Pashardes (1991) and Banks, Blundell and Preston (1994) use parametric methods to estimate lifetime equivalence scales. Their approaches put parametric restrictions on the differences in within-period expenditure needs across household types, the intertemporal allocation of expenditure, and the shapes of commodity demand equations. This paper puts parametric structure only on the differences in...

Savings and Prize-Linked Savings Accounts Many households have insufficient savings to handle moderate and routine consumption shocks. Many of these financially fragile households also have the highest lottery expenditures as a proportion of income. This combination suggests that Prize-Linked Savings (PLS) accounts, that combine principal-security with lottery-type jackpots, can increase saving...

Article history: Received 24 June 2010 Received in revised form 17 January 2012 Accepted 19 January 2012 Available online 27 January 2012 We build a panel of 14 emerging economies to estimate the magnitude of wealth effects on consumption. Usingmodern econometric techniques and quarterly data,we show that: (i)wealth effects are statistically significant and relatively large inmagnitude; (ii) st...

The controversy over whether and how much to charge for health products in the developing world rests, in part, on whether higher prices can increase use. We test this hypothesis in a field experiment in Zambia using door-to-door marketing of a home water purification solution. Our methodology separates the screening effect of prices (charging more changes the mix of buyers) from the psychologi...

Intra-Household Allocation of Resources: Inferences from Non-Resident Fathers’ Child Support Payments A large proportion of divorced and separated fathers form new partnerships. The new partner’s preferences are not likely to put much weight on expenditures on the man’s children from his previous union. Thus, his own and his partner’s income would have different impacts on his child support pay...

We use data from an online game economy and econometric matching methods to test whether social capital of players has an impact on game success. Membership in a “clan”, a voluntary organisation of players, positively impacts game success. Hence, social capital has a positive effect on outcomes. Yet, top performers do not gain from access to this social capital. JEL Classification: A13, C99, D1...

We estimate the price elasticity of water demand with household-level data, structurally modeling the piecewise-linear budget constraints imposed by increasing block pricing. We develop a mathematical expression for the unconditional price elasticity of demand under increasing block prices and compare conditional and unconditional elasticities analytically and empirically. We test the hypothesi...

Timing Constraints and the Allocation of Time: The Effects of Changing Shopping Hours Regulations in the Netherlands A 1996 change in shopping hours regulations in the Netherlands provides an opportunity to study the effects of timing constraints on total time spent in shopping, working, and other activities as well as the timing of these activities. We develop a simple structural model to make...

Beliefs are a central determinant of behavior. Recent models have assumed that beliefs about or the anticipation of future consumption can have direct utility-consequences. This gives rise to informational preferences, i.e., preferences over the timing and structure of information. Using a novel and purposefully simple set-up, we experimentally test key predictions about preferences for informa...

The Impact of Internet Diffusion on Marriage Rates: Evidence from the Broadband Market The Internet has the potential to reduce search frictions by allowing individuals to identify faster a larger set of available options that conform to their preferences. One market that stands to benefit from this process is that of marriage. This paper empirically examines the implications of Internet diffus...