Benjamin M. Marx
Georgia State University
Department of Economics
Loding Complete
Explore Research
New This Week
Do new societal needs increase charitable giving or simply reallocate a fixed supply of donations? We study this question using IRS datasets and the natural experiment of deadly tornadoes. Among ZIP Codes located more than 20 miles away from a tornado's path, donations by households increase by over...
What influences college student borrowing? In a field experiment with a large community college, we send emails about federal student loans to students who have received information about financial aid but have not made a borrowing decision. A treatment reminding students that they need not borrow...
January 26, 2018 - Article
College students who were induced to borrow after receiving information on loan availability earned 3.7 more credits in an academic year and raised their grade point averages by 0.6 points. Since 2000, undergraduate enrollment in the United States has risen by more than 30 percent, largely in two...
We estimate the impact of student loan nudges on community college students' borrowing and provide the first experimental evidence of the effect of student loans on educational attainment. Nonbinding loan offers listed in students' financial aid award letters, that do not alter students' choice sets...
We estimate effects of the largest U.S. federal grant for college students using administrative data from Texas four-year public colleges and a discontinuity in grant generosity. Eligibility for additional grant aid significantly increases degree receipt and earnings beginning four years after entry...
We use regression discontinuity and regression kink designs to estimate the impact of need-based grant aid on the borrowing and educational attainment of students enrolled in a large public university system. Pell Grant aid substantially reduces borrowing: among students who would borrow in the...
Do regular 401(k) and IRA accounts offer greater tax benefits than Roth 401(k)s and Roth IRAs? This is a tough question. Regular 401(k)s and IRAs save taxes in the short term; Roth accounts save taxes in the long term. Regular 401(k)s and IRAs are vulnerable to future income tax hikes, but may...
This paper determines the standard of living reductions that young, middle aged, and older households would experience were the U.S. government to cut Social Security benefits (but not taxes) to deal with its well documented (see Gokhale and Smetters, 2005) long-term fiscal crisis. To determine pre-...
Show: results