Due to betrayal aversion, people take risks less willingly when the agent of uncertainty is another person rather than nature. Individuals in four countries (Brazil, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and the United States) confronted either a binary-choice trust game or a risky decision...

Norms of reciprocity contribute to the enforcement of cooperative agreements in bilateral sequential exchange. This paper examines the norms that apply in a reciprocal-exchange economy and what effect on trust, trustworthiness and efficiency they have. In our one-shot investment game,...

We show that the largest increase in unemployment benefits in U.S. history had large spending impacts and small job-finding impacts. This finding has three implications. First, increased benefits were important for explaining aggregate spending dynamics—but not employment dynamics—during the...

Income disparities by race are large and persistent in the U.S., and shifts in economic cycles often exacerbate these inequalities. Recent cycles, such as the pandemic-induced recession, offer a glimpse into how a tight labor market and targeted fiscal supports can boost broad-based economic...

Even amidst strong macroeconomic conditions, families experience high levels of income volatility that have important implications for well-being. Families with limited liquid assets are dramatically less likely to smooth consumption in the face of income fluctuations, and it stands to reason...

Approximately two thirds of American families own a home and for most homeowners, their house is also their most important source of wealth. Homeowners are currently sitting on historically high levels of home equity and the potential withdrawal of this home equity has important implications for...

In this report, the JPMorgan Chase Institute assembled a de-identified data asset of over 250,000 Chase customers between 2013 and 2015 in order to study how consumers' expenses vary over time and how their financial behavior changes when faced with extraordinary medical payments. We organize...

In this report JPMorgan Chase Institute assembled a de-identified sample of 160,000 regular Chase customers who received unemployment insurance (UI) between 2014 and 2016 across 18 states to evaluate the role that UI plays in mitigating the financial impacts of job loss. Our results show that UI...

In this report the JPMorgan Chase Institute leverages de-identified administrative data on Chase customers between October 2012 and September 2015 to describe the key sources of income volatility among U.S. individuals and the size and growth of the Online Platform Economy. Our findings on...

In this report the JPMorgan Chase Institute examines administrative data on the everyday spending behavior of a random, de-identified sample of one million core Chase customers across 23 states to quantify the impact of an entire year of lower gas prices in 2015. First, we show that...