Spending Responses to High-Frequency Shifts in Payment Timing: Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit
利用交易数据和IRS数据，研究劳动所得税抵免退税时间变化对消费的影响，发现受助者在两周内花掉约30%的退税，对刺激总需求有快速效果。
This study explores the spending response to tax refunds for Earned Income Tax Credit recipients using a novel dataset combining transaction-based measures of retail spending with administrative IRS data on tax refunds. Our dataset allows us to exploit variation in the timing of EITC refunds, including changes related to the 2017 PATH Act, along with cross-state differences in refund magnitudes to identify spending responses. Results show EITC recipients spend about $0.30 per refund dollar ($1,150 for the average refund) within just two weeks of issuance, suggesting stimulus targeted at this population may provide a quick boost to aggregate demand.