Knowledge that Transforms

Property taxes are commonly levied as a percentage of a home’s assessed value (AV). AVs should affect home prices through opposing channels. An unexpected increase in AV implies higher tax payments, which should hurt a home’s selling price (tax channel). On the other hand, the increase should have a positive effect since AVs serve as reference prices (anchoring channel). In a quasi-experimental setting exploiting geographic variations in AV-publication dates and reassessment frequencies, we find that a higher AV leads to a lower transaction price, indicating that the tax channel prevails. Disentangling the aggregate effect, we document that empirically, the anchoring channel does not play a major role. Our results thus suggest an exacerbation of previously documented inequities caused by taxation.

This paper presents a model in which risk-averse individuals can purchase insurance via traditional indemnity contracts or Decentralized Finance (DeFi) smart contract-based instruments. The model incorporates key features of DeFi insurance, including parametric payouts, basis risk arising from imperfect loss verification and pooled collateralization involving the risk of liquidity shortfalls. We characterize optimal insurance choices as a function of pricing, payout correlation and risk preferences. Numerical results show that DeFi insurance can complement or replace traditional coverage, improving welfare when basis and default risks are moderate or pricing advantages are substantial. The analysis reveals how DeFi-specific frictions shape insurance demand and provides insight into how DeFi instruments may shift market structure and expand the set of attainable risk transfer outcomes.