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Household spending out of a tax rebate: Italian “€80 tax bonus”

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  • Neri, Andrea
  • Rondinelli, Concetta
  • Scoccianti, Filippo

Abstract

We estimate the consumption response of Italian households to the “€80 tax bonus” introduced in 2014, using the panel component on the Survey of Household Income and Wealth. We find that households that received the tax rebate increased their monthly consumption of food and means of transportation by about €20 and €30, respectively, about 50-60 per cent of the total bonus. There was a larger increase for households with low liquid wealth or low income. Our estimates are quite robust to different model specifications and are broadly in line with the evidence available from similar tax rebates in other countries but, due to the small sample size, are not always statistically significant. To understand the mechanism behind our results we then simulate an overlapping generations model of household consumption: the marginal propensity to consume generated by the structural model is in line with our empirical estimates. JEL Classification: D12, E21

Suggested Citation

  • Neri, Andrea & Rondinelli, Concetta & Scoccianti, Filippo, 2017. "Household spending out of a tax rebate: Italian “€80 tax bonus”," Working Paper Series 2099, European Central Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20172099
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    Cited by:

    1. Riccardo Lucchetti & Luca Pedini & Claudia Pigini, 2021. "Bayesian Model Averaging For Propensity Score Matching In Tax Rebate," Working Papers 457, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    2. Andini, Monica & Ciani, Emanuele & de Blasio, Guido & D'Ignazio, Alessio & Salvestrini, Viola, 2018. "Targeting with machine learning: An application to a tax rebate program in Italy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 86-102.
    3. Monica Andini & Emanuele Ciani & Guido de Blasio & Alessio D'Ignazio & Viola Salvestrini, 2017. "Targeting policy-compliers with machine learning: an application to a tax rebate programme in Italy," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1158, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    4. Riccardo De Bonis & Danilo Liberati & John Muellbauer & Concetta Rondinelli, 2020. "Consumption and wealth: new evidence from Italy," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1304, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    consumer behavior; expenditure; fiscal stimulus;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

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