The Effects of Fiscal Stimulus: Evidence from the 2009 ‘Cash for Clunkers’ Program

@article{Mian2010TheEO,
  title={The Effects of Fiscal Stimulus: Evidence from the 2009 ‘Cash for Clunkers’ Program},
  author={Atif R. Mian and Amir Sufi},
  journal={ERN: Other Political Economy: Fiscal Policies \& Behavior of Economic Agents (Topic)},
  year={2010}
}
  • Atif R. Mian, Amir Sufi
  • Published 2010
  • ERN: Other Political Economy: Fiscal Policies & Behavior of Economic Agents (Topic)
A key rationale for fiscal stimulus is to boost consumption when aggregate demand is perceived to be inefficiently low. We examine the ability of the government to increase consumption by evaluating the impact of the 2009 “Cash for Clunkers” program on short and medium run auto purchases. Our empirical strategy exploits variation across U.S. cities in ex-ante exposure to the program as measured by the number of “clunkers” in the city as of the summer of 2008. We find that the program induced… Expand
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