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Working Paper
Comparing Micro and Macro Sources for Household Accounts in the United States: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances
Household income, spending, and net worth are key inputs in macroeconomic forecasting and economic research. Macro-level data sources are often used to measure household accounts, but lack important information about heterogeneity across different types of households that can be found in micro-level data sources. This paper compares aggregates computed based on one micro-level data source--the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF)--with macro-level sources of information on household accounts. We find that on most measures, aggregates computed from the SCF line up well with macro-level data ...
Working Paper
Consumption, Wealth, and Income Inequality: A Tale of Tails
We provide evidence that the distributions of consumption, labor income, wealth, and capital income exhibit asymptotic power-law behavior with a strict ranking of upper tail inequality, in that order, from the least to the most unequal. We show analytically and quantitatively that the canonical heterogeneous-agent model cannot replicate the proper ranking and magnitudes of these four tails simultaneously. Mechanisms addressing the wealth concentration puzzle in these models through return heterogeneity lead to a mirror consumption concentration puzzle. We match the cross-sectional data on ...
Working Paper
Extreme Wildfires, Distant Air Pollution, and Household Financial Health
We link detailed wildfire burn, satellite smoke plume, and ground-level pollution data to estimate the effects of extreme wildfire and related smoke and air pollution events on housing and consumer financial outcomes. Findings provide novel evidence of elevated spending, indebtedness, and loan delinquencies among households distant from the burn perimeter but exposed to high levels of wildfire-attributed air pollution. Results also show higher levels of financial distress among renters in the burn zone, particularly those with lower credit scores. Financial distress among homeowners within ...
Working Paper
The Opioid Epidemic and Consumer Credit Supply: Evidence from Credit Cards
Using a unique data set of unsolicited credit card offer mailings by banks to consumers, we investigate how opioid abuse affects consumer credit supply in the U.S. To identify causal effects, we employ instrumental variables, propensity score matching, and contiguous counties techniques and control for varying local economic conditions and demographics. We find that banks contract credit supply to consumers in counties highly exposed to opioid abuse by offering higher interest rates, lower credit card limits, and fewer rewards and reducing credit offers overall. Further analyses using the ...