Rent or Buy? Inflation Experiences and Homeownership within and across Countries
Published: 4/19/2024, Volume: 79, Issue: 3 | DOI: 10.1111/jofi.13332 | Cited by: 36
ULRIKE MALMENDIER, ALEXANDRA STEINY WELLSJO
We show that past inflation experiences strongly predict homeownership within and across countries. First, we collect novel survey data, which reveal inflation protection to be a key motivation for homeownership, especially after high inflation experiences. Second, using household data from 22 European countries, we find that higher exposure to historical inflation predicts higher homeownership rates. We estimate similar associations among immigrants to the United States who experienced different past inflation in their home countries but face the same U.S. housing market. Consistent with the experience effects model, the relationship is strongest in countries with predominantly fixed‐rate mortgages.
Private Equity and Pay Gaps Inside the Firm
Published: 6/8/2026, Volume: 81, Issue: 4 | DOI: 10.1111/jofi.70043 | Cited by: 2
LILY FANG, JIM GOLDMAN, ALEXANDRA ROULET
Using two decades of French administrative data, we find that post‐leveraged buyout (LBO), target firms reduce within‐firm pay gaps while increasing profitability relative to control firms. Employee turnover drives the pay‐gap reduction. In target and control firms alike, turnovers reduce average pay more at the top of the wage distribution than at the bottom because separated employees are paid more—new joiners less—than similar employees, especially among skilled employees. LBOs amplify this effect through increased turnover among managers. Post‐buyout, p90/p10, gender, age, and managers/non‐managers pay gaps decline by 3%, 9%, 21%, and 4% and the employee pool becomes younger.
The Long‐Lasting Effects of Experiencing Communism on Attitudes toward Financial Markets
Published: 12/25/2025, Volume: 81, Issue: 2 | DOI: 10.1111/jofi.70006 | Cited by: 5
CHRISTINE LAUDENBACH, ULRIKE MALMENDIER, ALEXANDRA NIESSEN‐RUENZI
We show that exposure to anti‐capitalist ideology can exert a lasting influence on attitudes toward capital markets and stock market participation. Using novel survey, bank, and broker data, we document that, decades after Germany's reunification, East Germans invest significantly less in stocks and hold more negative views on capital markets. Effects vary by personal experience under communism. Results are strongest for individuals who remember life in the German Democratic Republic positively, for example, those living in a “showcase city.” Results reverse for those with negative experiences like environmental pollution or lack of Western TV entertainment.