Christmas Economics—a Sleigh Ride

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Abstract Do you believe that at Christmas time the gas prices, the economy and the number of suicides peak? Do you think that the value of presents you are giving to your beloved is of importance? We show in this paper that conventional wisdom about Christmas is often doubtful. Furthermore, we give an idea of how Santa Claus -and maybe you -is able to …nance Christmas celebrations, why emergency departments are a place to especially avoid during this time of the year and why Christmas tree growers might care to explain the di¤erences across species to you this year. We cannot clearly establish whether Christmas entails a welfare loss or gain, however, we give you an idea as to which institutional settings might reduce a potential welfare loss. Also, we give advice about which behaviours might get you more Christmas presents from Santa this year. Finally, we …nd that more research is needed to give conclusive reasons why Santa Claus actually brings presents to (nearly) everyone. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor mayJEL classi…cation: A12, D1, D6, E3, H4, I1, Z1, XM45

An integrative review of gift‐giving research in consumer behavior and marketing

“…However, no extensive review has surveyed the vast body of research comprising this literature. Instead, reviews of the consumer gift‐giving literature have focused on providing thorough examinations of specific segments of the literature (e.g., Birg & Goeddeke, 2016; Galak et al, 2016). To that end, in the present work, we offer an expansive review of research on consumer gift‐giving, pulling primarily from work within the field of marketing, but also drawing on foundational pieces from other disciplines.…”

A bibliometric analysis on gift giving

“…Researchers often use meta‐analysis for theory expansion (Combs et al, 2011). Thus, the consumer gift‐giving literature could benefit from meta‐analyses on papers studying discrepancies between givers' choices and recipients' preferences (Galak et al, 2016) and the net welfare effects of gift‐giving (Birg & Goeddeke, 2016).…”

“…Some review articles are available on consumer gift‐giving and related literature. These include Banks (1979), Arunthanes et al (1994), Sargeant and Woodliffe (2007), Birg and Goeddeke (2016), and Galak et al (2016). However, none use bibliometrics—like publication trends, influential outlets, and prolific contributors—to discuss the gift‐giving literature.…”

The Deadweight Loss of Christmas - Reply

“…Waldfogel's …ndings have sparked a debate amongst economists whether and to what extent in-kind gifts actually may go along with a deadweight loss. In a series of replies and comments with di¤erent methodological approaches (see Birg & Goeddeke, 2016 for a survey), the evidence regarding the welfare e¤ect of Christmas presents is mixed: Solnick & Hemenway (1996) …nd a 214 percent welfare gain, when asking students and sta¤ at Harvard and members of the general public for the amount recipients would be willing to accept in compensation for the gift. Also, List & Shogren (1998) …nd a 121 to 135 percent welfare gain for an experimental auction where the subjects indicated at which price they were willing to sell their gifts.…”