THE DEADWEIGHT LOSS OF CHRISTMAS by Joel Waldfogel

[Román Culebro Martínez]

When economists comment on holiday gift-giving, it is usually to condone the healthy effect of spending on the macroeconomy. However, an important feature of gift-giving is that consumption choices are made by someone other than the final consumer. A pontentially important microeconomic aspect of gift-giving is that gifts may be mismatched with the recipients´ preferences. This paper gives estimates of the deadweight loss of holiday gift-giving based on surveys given to Yale undergraduates. I find that holiday gift-giving destroys between 10% and third of the value of gifts... PARA ACCEDER AL PAPER DAR CLIC AQUÍ -->  christmas_waldfogel.pdf