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Scarcity and Cognitive Function around Payday: A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis

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  • Anandi Mani
  • Sendhil; Mullainathan
  • Eldarl Shafir
  • Jiaying Zhao

Abstract

The ongoing demands around smoothing consumption with low and sporadic income flows in contexts of scarcity entail that minor changes in cash flows can have big psychological and behavioral effects. In this paper, we examine the behavioral and cognitive impact of routine periodic fluctuations in financial status of the poor around paydays. In articular, e raw ink etween a ange f ocumented ehaviors and n increase in scarcity-induced cognitive load, closer to payday. Our results, along with those of others briefly reviewed, illustrate the outsized role in scarcity contexts of otherwise trivial changes in income flows and highlight the importance of carefully structured esearch designs in studying the yriad challenges in scarcity contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Anandi Mani & Sendhil; Mullainathan & Eldarl Shafir & Jiaying Zhao, 2020. "Scarcity and Cognitive Function around Payday: A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis," CSAE Working Paper Series 2020-04, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    • Handle: RePEc:csa:wpaper:2020-04
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    Cited by:

    1. Christian T. Elbæk & Panagiotis Mitkidis & Lene Aarøe & Tobias Otterbring, 2023. "Subjective socioeconomic status and income inequality are associated with self-reported morality across 67 countries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Guilherme Lichand & Anandi Mani, 2020. "Cognitive Droughts," CSAE Working Paper Series 2020-02, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    3. Mika Akesaka & Peter Eibich & Chie Hanaoka & Hitoshi Shigeoka, 2023. "Temporal Instability of Risk Preference among the Poor: Evidence from Payday Cycles," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 68-99, October.
    4. Eesha Sharma & Stephanie Tully & Xiang Wang, 2022. "Scarcity and Intertemporal Choice," Working Papers 22-27, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    5. Rachel Griffith, 2022. "Obesity, Poverty and Public Policy," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(644), pages 1235-1258.
    6. Ernst-Jan Bruijn & Gerrit Antonides, 2022. "Poverty and economic decision making: a review of scarcity theory," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 92(1), pages 5-37, February.
    7. Burlacu, Sergiu & Mani, Anandi & Ronzani, Piero & Savadori, Lucia, 2023. "The preoccupied parent," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    8. Christina Kaliampakou & Lefkothea Papada & Dimitris Damigos, 2021. "Are Energy-Vulnerable Households More Prone to Informative, Market, and Behavioral Biases?," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-22, October.
    9. Timothée Demont & Daniela Horta Sáenz & Eva Raiber, 2023. "Turning worries into cognitive performance: Results from an online experiment during Covid," AMSE Working Papers 2302, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    10. Clémence Berson & Raphaël Lardeux & Claire Lelarge, 2021. "The Cognitive Load of Financing Constraints: Evidence from Large-Scale Wage Surveys," Working papers 836, Banque de France.
    11. Selina Bruns & Bernhard Dalheimer & Oliver Musshoff, 2022. "The effect of cognitive function on the poor's economic performance: Evidence from Cambodian smallholder farmers," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(3), pages 468-480, May.
    12. Guilherme Lichand & Anandi Mani, 2020. "Cognitive droughts," ECON - Working Papers 341, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    13. Schmitt, Stefanie Y. & Schlatterer, Markus G., 2021. "Poverty and limited attention," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    14. Eva Raiber & Daniela Horta Saenz & Timothée Demont, 2023. "Turning worries into performance: Results from an online experiment during COVID," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2023 08, Stata Users Group.
    15. Schmitt, Stefanie Yvonne & Schlatterer, Markus G., 2020. "Poverty and limited attention," BERG Working Paper Series 159, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.

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