Using a unique set of household-level panel data, we estimate the effect of capital gains on saving by asset type, controlling for observable and unobservable household-specific fixed effects. The results suggest that the decline in the personal saving rate since 1984 is largely due to the...

This paper examines data from U.S. federal tax returns to shed light on whether the timing of death is responsive to its tax consequences. We investigate the temporal pattern of deaths around the time of changes in the estate-tax system periods when living longer, or dying sooner, could...