We utilise questions concerning individual ‘debt literacy’ incorporated into market research data on households’ unsecured debt positions to examine the association between consumer credit and individual financial literacy. We examine the relationship between individual responses to debt...

The ‘financial accelerator’ model when applied to households states that shocks to household balance sheets (primarily changes in house prices) amplify fluctuations in consumer spending by tightening or relaxing collateral constraints on borrowing. We construct an alternative model where...

Recent household financial models predict that collateral-constrained households are more likely to increase debt-financed spending in response to rising house values. We augment this model to consider the use of unsecured debt such as credit cards. Using household panel data, we consider...

This paper investigates the existence of liquidity constraints facing entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom. Using a household-level panel data set, entry to selfemployment is shown to be a function of household net worth. We use inheritances and unanticipated movements in house prices as...

Using individual-level panel data, this paper examines the relationship between problem debt and psychological health. Individuals exhibiting problem debt, by either subjective or objective measures, also exhibit much worse psychological health, by either subjective or objective measures....

Movements in house prices and consumer spending are closely correlated in many developed nations. Much debate exists on whether this relationship is in any way causal arising from either wealth effects or collateral effects. This paper uses a unique survey question on self-reported responses to...

Personally knowing someone who has been bankrupt substantially increases the likelihood of an individual reporting they would consider filing for bankruptcy. This paper provides new evidence on the role of social effects in the personal bankruptcy decision using individual-level survey data from...

This paper examines the prevalence of mortgage arrears in the U.K using the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). The majority of reported problems occur in the first few years after purchase. Episodes of unemployment, long-term sickness or relationship breakdown all predict repayment...

This paper investigates racial disparities in household credit constraints using U.K. survey data. We find a widening disparity in the proportion of racial minority households reporting they face credit constraints compared with non-minority households over the period 2006-2009. By 2009 three...

I argue that the offsetting effect of public pension contributions on household retirement saving depends on how closely the public pension programme imitates a private retirement saving plan (i.e. the ‘actuarial’ content of the public pension programme) – the closer the design of the...