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The effects of the introduction of tax incentives on retirement savings

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Author Info
Juan Ayuso () (Banco de España)
Juan F. Jimeno () (Banco de España, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR))
Ernesto Villanueva () (Banco de España)

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Abstract

This paper uses a Spanish panel of tax returns and another on household expenditure during the period 1985-1991 to examine the incidence of the introduction in 1988 of tax incentives to retirement savings on contributions to pension funds and on savings. We first identify the population cohorts who most used these incentives. Then we use data on the evolution of consumption of these cohorts to find that there is substantial heterogeneity in the response of household saving to tax incentives. Most contributions to pension funds are by older/high income individuals. While the overall amount of new saving we estimate is limited (at most 25 cents per euro contributed on average), saving responses differ substantially across age groups. In particular, we document very small consumption drops among the group of households between 56 and 65 years of age, the group that most actively contributed to the plan, while we find instead a larger decrease in consumption expenditures of the group of households between 46 and 55 years of age.

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File URL: http://www.bde.es/webbde/SES/Secciones/Publicaciones/PublicacionesSeriadas/DocumentosTrabajo/07/Fic/dt0724e.pdf
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File Function: First version, July 2007
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Banco de España in its series Banco de España Working Papers with number 0724.

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Length: 49 pages
Date of creation: Jul 2007
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Handle: RePEc:bde:wpaper:0724

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Related research
Keywords: pension funds; tax incentives; savings;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Personal Finance
H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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    Other versions:
  2. Orazio Attanasio & James Banks & Matthew Wakefield, 2004. "Effectiveness of tax incentives to boost (retirement) saving: theoretical motivation and empirical evidence," IFS Working Papers W04/33, Institute for Fiscal Studies. [Downloadable!]
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    Other versions:
  5. Bernheim, B. Douglas, 2002. "Taxation and saving," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 18, pages 1173-1249 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Hubbard, R Glenn & Skinner, Jonathan S, 1996. "Assessing the Effectiveness of Saving Incentives," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 73-90, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Martin Browning & M. Dolores Collado, 2001. "The Response of Expenditures to Anticipated Income Changes: Panel Data Estimates," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(3), pages 681-692, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-in-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Jon Gruber & Emmanuel Saez, 2000. "The Elasticity of Taxable Income: Evidence and Implications," NBER Working Papers 7512, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Richard Blundell & Carl Emmerson & Matthew Wakefield, 2006. "The importance of incentives in influencing private retirement saving: known knowns and known unknowns," IFS Working Papers W06/09, Institute for Fiscal Studies. [Downloadable!]
  11. Orazio P. Attanasio & Susann Rohwedder, 2003. "Pension Wealth and Household Saving: Evidence from Pension Reforms in the United Kingdom," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1499-1521, December. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Raquel Carrasco & José M. Labeaga & J. David López-Salido, 2002. "Consumption And Habits: Evidence From Panel Data," Economics Working Papers we023415, Universidad Carlos III, Departamento de Economía. [Downloadable!]
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  15. Eric M. Engen & William G. Gale, 2000. "The Effects of 401(k) Plans on Household Wealth: Differences Across Earnings Groups," NBER Working Papers 8032, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Michael R. Veall, 2001. "Did tax flattening affect RRSP contributions?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 34(1), pages 120-131, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Esther Duflo & William Gale & Jeffrey Liebman & Peter Orszag & Emmanuel Saez, 2005. "Saving Incentives for Low- and Middle-Income Families: Evidence from a Field Experiment with H&R Block," NBER Working Papers 11680, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Kevin Milligan, 2001. "Tax-Preferred Savings Accounts and Marginal Tax Rates: Evidence on RRSP Participation," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 52, McMaster University. [Downloadable!]
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  20. Engen, Eric M & Gale, William G & Scholz, John Karl, 1996. "The Illusory Effects of Saving Incentives on Saving," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 113-38, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Jappelli, Tullio & Pistaferri, Luigi, 2003. "Tax incentives and the demand for life insurance: evidence from Italy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(7-8), pages 1779-1799, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

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  2. Agustín Maravall & Ana del Río, 2007. "Temporal aggregation, systematic sampling, and the Hodrick-Prescott filter," Banco de España Working Papers 0728, Banco de España. [Downloadable!]
  3. Isabel Argimón & Pablo Hernández de Cos, 2008. "The determinants of budget balances of the regional (Autonomous) governments," Banco de España Working Papers 0803, Banco de España. [Downloadable!]
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