This paper studies how windfalls from agriculture influence demand for electrification in a developing country. Leveraging two decades of administrative data on the universe of electricity grid customers in Rwanda, and plausibly exogenous variations in international coffee prices, we document...

This paper analyzes the effect of commodity price fluctuations on a commodity-exporting economy. Using Chilean and international copper market data, I find that positive copper price changes resulting from copper-specific demand shocks generate a broad GDP expansion, with no visible decline in...

We examine the relationship between oil price windfalls and labor market regulation empirically through panel regressions in a sample of 83 countries spanning 1970-2014. We find that oil price windfall gains lead to a deregulation of the labor market in autocracies but have no effects in...

I study the ramifications of the German short-time work (STW) scheme using novel administrative data on STW and drawing on evidence from establishment surveys that are linked to the administrative data. I show that, besides financial reasons, firms value and use STW because it allows them to...

We use plausibly exogenous variation in the redistribution of natural resource tax revenues in Peru to study whether transfers to local governments can stimulate economic activity in low-income areas. We show that resource windfalls to non-extractive municipalities between 2006 and 2018 changed...

Using variation in federal pandemic-era fiscal aid to states driven by the strength of political representation, we find that incremental pandemic-era fiscal aid to states was most likely to end up in the categories of general administrative service spending and employee pension benefit funding....

Starting in 2009, the German state of Saxony distributed sports club membership vouchers among all 33,000 third graders in the state. The policy's objective was to encourage them to develop a long-term habit of exercising. In 2018, we carried out a large register-based survey among several...

Starting in 2009, the German state of Saxony distributed sports club membership vouchers among all 33,000 third graders in the state. The policy's objective was to encourage them to develop a long-term habit of exercising. In 2018, we carried out a large register-based survey among several...

In a seminal contribution, Thaler and Johnson ( 35 ) detected the existence of a house money effect which is defined as an increase in risk tolerance after previous gains resulting from a risky activity. Subsequent studies used the term house money effect also in case of windfall gains, i.e.,...

Using e-filed Form 990 data, I construct a novel measure of unrestricted cash windfalls to examine the outcomes associated with windfalls for nonprofit organizations (NPOs). The evidence suggests that NPOs that receive windfalls tend to focus more on program (i.e., mission-focused) spending and...

This paper aims to determine how individuals react when windfall money incomes are taxed. Using Synthetic Difference in Differences and Synthetic Control Methods, we analyze the effects of the 2013 change in lottery winnings' taxation in Portugal and Spain. By analyzing EuroMillions sales data...

Natural resource revenues contribute to sustainable development when they are reinvested sufficiently in public services, such as education, that offer long-term social returns. Cross-country evidence suggests that resource-rich countries fail at this, spending less on public services than...

Using administrative data on Taiwanese lottery winners, this paper examines the effects of cash windfalls on entrepreneurship. We compare the start-up decisions of households winning more than 1.5 million NT$ (50,000 US$) in the lottery in a particular year with those of households winning less...

Many attempts to increase the flexibility of wireless spectrum rights meet objections that the method of reallocation will result in a windfall. Far from being objectionable, however, allowing windfalls in spectrum reallocation creates virtuous incentives. Furthermore, spectrum windfalls are...

We investigate the relationship between oil windfalls and income inequality using the subnational data of one of the resource-richest and most unequal countries in the world - Russia. While previous literature produced contradictory findings due to the use of an aggregate measure of oil rents...

Iraq's economy is gradually emerging from the deep recession caused by the pandemic and the plunge in oil prices in 2020. Higher oil revenues pushed Iraq's overall fiscal and external balances into a surplus in 2021. The turnaround in oil markets has significantly improved Iraq's economic...

We investigate the relationship between oil windfalls and income inequality using the subnational data of one of the resource-richest and most unequal countries in the world – Russia. While previous literature produced contradictory findings due to the use of an aggregate measure of oil rents...

The q-factor model shows strong explanatory power and largely summarizes the cross section of average stock returns. In particular, the q-factor model fully subsumes the Fama-French (2018) 6-factor model in head-to-head factor spanning tests. The q-factor model is an empirical implementation of...

We utilize shopping receipt lotteries that almost every shopper participates in and complete administrative data in Taiwan to examine the effect of cash windfalls on stock market participation. The advantage of using receipt lottery winning is its immunity from the sampling biases that may limit...

How do persistent cash flow shocks affect debt repayment across the distribution of households? Using individual data on natural gas shale royalty payments matched with credit bureau data for 215,639 consumers, we estimate that individuals repay 33 cents of debt per dollar of windfall, and that...

We study the impact of natural resource royalties on educational outcomes in Colombia. We analyze a reform enacted in 2012 that made the distribution of these royalties more equitable. Before the reform, most royalties were assigned to the regions where the natural resources were exploited; with...

The surge in fossil fuel prices in 2022 has generated substantial windfall profits in the energy sector. Policymakers in many countries are exploring policies to tax part of these profits. Excess profits can be taxed by tax instruments targeted at economic rents that avoid discouraging...

While there is a broad consensus in the literature that stock ownership is associated with individual characteristics, such as wealth, income, risk preferences, and financial literacy, less is known about the dynamics of stock market participation (SMP). Major fluctuations in SMP are oftentimes...

Some corporations would profit from the current crisis while everyone else suffers. Moreover, the government will be spending trillions on saving the economy. Naturally, this spending would benefit the winners since they spent on their services. One reason for these extraordinary profits is not...