Search

We study residential lease payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey of Israeli renters shows that nearly one in eight did not pay full rent during the first lockdown in March–April 2020. These households held back two-thirds of their contractually due rent on average. Financially fragile households with large income cuts withheld a greater share. Both formal and relational aspects of the landlord-tenant relationship affected payments: tenants paid more of their rent if their leases included formal provisions against non-payment, and less if they had strong relationships with their landlords. We use bargaining and relational contract theories to explain our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How effective is counter‐terrorism and what are the underlying mechanisms? Relying on a unique experiment and detailed micro data from Israel, we show that the deployment of the Iron Dome anti‐rocket system mitigated the negative effect of rocket attacks on house prices and lowered the price premium associated with in‐house shelters. Analysis of surveys and data on purchases of anti‐anxiety drugs yields evidence consistent with a psychological mechanism: by reducing the negative effects on daily routine, subjective well‐being, and psychological distress, Iron Dome lowered the disamenity associated with living under the shadow of the rocket threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]