EclectEcon

Finally, we demonstrated that the reported timing of death is sensitive to tax considerations: in a four-week period surrounding estate tax reforms, more taxable deaths are observed during the "low-tax" regime than during the "high-tax" regime. We were, unfortunately, unable to conclude how much of this response represents the strength of willpower of tax-averse individuals and how much reflects cheating by their beneficiaries, but this finding provides another example of the variety of behavioral responses that individuals pursue in response to tax incentives.