The Economics of Financial Stress
基于美国家庭调查，研究财务压力的心理成本及其经济后果，发现财务压力及其认知偏差是贫困陷阱的重要成因，且财务压力会通过影响认知资源改变劳动供给对财富的反应。
Abstract We study the psychological costs of financial constraints and their economic consequences. Using a representative survey of U.S. households, we document the prevalence of financial stress in U.S. households and a strong relationship between financial stress and measures of financial constraints. We incorporate financial stress into an otherwise standard dynamic model of consumption and labour supply. We emphasize two key results. First, both financial stress itself and naivete about financial stress are important components of a psychology-based theory of the poverty trap. Sophisticated households, instead, save extra to escape high-stress states because they understand that doing so alleviates the economic consequences of financial stress. Second, the financial stress channel dampens or reverses the counterfactual large negative wealth effect on labour earnings because relieving stress frees up cognitive resources for productive work. Financial stress also has macroeconomic implications for wealth inequality and fiscal multipliers.