We use a new panel dataset of credit card accounts to analyze how consumer responded to the 2001 Federal income tax rebates. We estimate the monthly response of credit card payments, spending, and debt, exploiting the unique, randomized timing of the rebate disbursement. We find that, on...

Using data from the US Health and Retirement Study, we study the causal effect of increased health insurance coverage through Medicare and the associated reduction in health-related background risk on financial risk-taking. Given the onset of Medicare at age 65, we identify our effect of...

The article analyses possibilities of financing higher education by households, it proves, using example of households of Ukraine and Russia, wish and capability of households to finance higher education. Analysis of such a capability of households reveals both possibilities for development of...

We use a panel dataset from the Dutch Household Survey, covering annually the period 1993-2011, to analyze whether individual risk aversion changes over time with the background economic conditions. Considering six different measures of self-assessed risk aversion, which cover different aspects...

In December 2010, the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh passed a law that severely restricted the operations of micro-finance institutions and brought the micro-finance industry to an abrupt halt. We measure the impact of micro-credit withdrawal in this unique natural experiment and find that...

Practically all industrialized economies restrict the length of time that credit bureaus can retain borrowers’ negative credit information. There is, however, a large variation in the permitted retention times across countries. By exploiting a quasi-experimental variation in this retention...

Based on China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) data, China¡¯s Gini Coefficient stood at 0.61 in 2010, above the global average of 0.44, according to the World Bank. The high Gini Coefficient represents a large income disparity of the country. It is understandable that a high Gini is common in...

This article introduces four metrics quantifying the adequacy of retirement savings taking into account all major sources of retirement income. The metrics are applied to a representative sample of the Australian population aged 40 and above. Employers in Australia currently make compulsory...

Credit limit variability is a crucial aspect of the consumption, savings, and debt decisions of households in the United States. Using a large panel, this paper first demonstrates that individuals gain and lose access to credit frequently and often have their credit limits reduced unexpectedly....

We study how consumers allocate debt across credit cards they already hold using new data on credit card activity for a representative sample of consumers with two homogeneous cards in Mexico. We find that relative prices are a very weak predictor of the allocation of debt, purchases, and...