We evaluate the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) by comparing the vehicle purchases and disposals of households with eligible “clunkers” to those of households with similar, but ineligible, vehicles. We find that CARS caused roughly 500,000 purchases during the program period and that the liquidity provided by CARS was critical for generating this large response. CARS provided less liquidity for households owning clunkers securing loans, since participation required loan repayment. The participation rate of these households was low, which we attribute to liquidity constraints and distinguish from the effects of other indebtedness, household income, and the size of the program subsidy.

中文翻译：

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油门还是刹车？旧车换现金、家庭流动性和总需求

我们通过比较拥有符合条件的“旧车”的家庭与拥有类似但不符合条件的车辆的家庭的车辆购买和处置情况来评估汽车津贴回扣系统 (CARS)。我们发现，CARS 在计划期间引起了大约 500,000 次购买，而 CARS 提供的流动性对于产生如此大的响应至关重要。CARS 为拥有旧车获得贷款的家庭提供的流动性较少，因为参与需要偿还贷款。这些家庭的参与率较低，我们将其归因于流动性限制，并与其他债务、家庭收入和计划补贴规模的影响区分开来。