Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/103883 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
cege Discussion Papers No. 220
Publisher: 
University of Göttingen, Center for European, Governance and Economic Development Research (cege), Göttingen
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 finance 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 differences 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 find that more research is needed to give conclusive reasons why Santa Claus actually brings presents to (nearly) everyone.
Subjects: 
christmas
Santa Claus
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
elves
presents
welfare
JEL: 
A12
D1
D6
E3
H4
I1
Z1
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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