Journal article
Taxing the wealth of the poor: evidence from the Danish old-age support asset test
- Abstract:
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We document strong behavioral responses to an asset test for an old-age support program in Denmark using comprehensive administrative data. We show that the density distribution of the liquid assets targeted by the test exhibits large but diffuse excess mass below the threshold for the treated group relative to control groups of comparable but ineligible individuals. A cohort analysis exploiting the panel structure suggests that the program reduces liquid assets by 20 percent around the threshold. Analyzing high-frequency bank data on assets and cash withdrawals shows that the excess mass around the threshold largely reflects permanent rather than temporary responses.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
Actions
Access Document
- Files:
-
-
(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 373.5KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1257/aeri.20240634
Authors
- Publisher:
- American Economic Association
- Journal:
- American Economic Review: Insights More from this journal
- Volume:
- 8
- Issue:
- 2
- Pages:
- 247-264
- Publication date:
- 2026-06-01
- Acceptance date:
- 2025-10-09
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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2640-2068
- ISSN:
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2640-205X
- Language:
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English
- Pubs id:
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2307605
- Local pid:
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pubs:2307605
- Deposit date:
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2025-11-03
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- American Economic Association
- Copyright date:
- 2026
- Rights statement:
- Copyright 2026 American Economic Association. All rights reserved.
- Notes:
- The author accepted manuscript (AAM) of this paper has been made available under the University of Oxford's Open Access Publications Policy, and a CC BY public copyright licence has been applied.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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