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Households' Response to the Wealth Effects of Inflation

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  • Schnorpfeil, Philip
  • Weber, Michael
  • Hackethal, Andreas

Abstract

We study the redistributive effects of inflation combining administrative bank data with an information provision experiment during an episode of historic inflation. On average, households are well-informed about prevailing inflation and are concerned about its impact on their wealth; yet, while many households know about inflation eroding nominal assets, most are unaware of nominal-debt erosion. Once they receive information on the debt-erosion channel, households update upwards their beliefs about nominal debt and their own real net wealth. These changes in beliefs causally affect actual consumption and hypothetical debt decisions. Our findings suggest that real wealth mediates the sensitivity of consumption to inflation once households are aware of the wealth effects of inflation.
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Suggested Citation

  • Schnorpfeil, Philip & Weber, Michael & Hackethal, Andreas, 2024. "Households' Response to the Wealth Effects of Inflation," VfS Annual Conference 2024 (Berlin): Upcoming Labor Market Challenges 302382, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc24:302382
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    Cited by:

    1. Link, Sebastian & Peichl, Andreas & Roth, Christopher & Wohlfart, Johannes, 2023. "Attention to the Macroeconomy," CEPR Discussion Papers 18699, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Schnorpfeil, Philip & Weber, Michael & Hackethal, Andreas, 2024. "Inflation and trading," SAFE Working Paper Series 419, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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