Hemming Ma: Christmas Gifts are Bad

Abstract

Do you enjoy receiving and or giving Christmas gifts? Some economists would say that you are the reason for substantial economic losses every year. In this talk, we take a look at the economics of gift-giving and in particular Waldfogel's landmark 1993 paper on "The deadloss weight of Christmas" and the subsequent papers following its publication. Looking at the identified factors that make or break a gift, we reach the inescapable conclusion that most Christmas gifts are bad and ask why we still do them. No prior exposure to economics is assumed.