【题  目】"Quick Response" Economic Stimulus: The Effect of Small-Value Digital Coupons on Spending

【时  间】2021年12月1日（星期三），10:00-11:30am

【地  点】腾讯会议ID：219-921-274  会议密码：362135

【主讲人】邹咏辰 (Eric Zou) 助理教授（University of Oregon）

【主持人】李亚男 助理教授（北京师范大学经济与工商管理学院）

摘要：We study a new consumption stimulus model that leverages mobile payment platforms to dispense massive amounts of small-value, use-it-this-week-or-lose-it digital coupons. We evaluate the effects of one such program in a large Chinese city using novel data of mobile platform transactions of 1 million program participants. Exploiting participants’ rush to the first-come, first-served digital portal, we compare spending among those who won coupons to those who lost because of minor differences in the timing of their arrival at the portal. We find that coupons generate an immediate increase in weekly consumption among winners by $3 additional out-of-pocket spending for every $1 in government subsidy. Analysis of business customer flows suggests that coupons distort consumption toward more expensive options, leading the program to disproportionately favor big firms that sell pricier goods and services. Relaxing coupons’minimum spending requirements would alleviate such distributional concern without sacrificing consumer welfare. We conclude that the coupon model can be a useful addition to policy makers’stimulus toolbox.

报告人简介：Eric Zou is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Oregon and a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Eric studies the economics of pollution prevention. His research helps to document emerging pollution sources, understand where the public is often not adequately protected from these sources, and provide insights for the design and the enforcement of pollution regulations. Eric received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Cornell Institute for China Economic Research before joining Oregon. His work was published in leading journals such as American Economic Review and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.