In the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, a significant research effort has been made to better understand the links between household debt levels, financial stability risks, and the ongoing implications of the ‘debt overhang’ for economic growth. However, accurately measuring the...

“Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) and other forms of consumer credit create a wedge between consumption and payments. We introduce this wedge into a standard consumption-based asset pricing model (CCAPM). In equilibrium, the pricing kernel equals the marginal utility of consumption divided by the...

Financial contracts are complicated and consumers often do not grasp them in their entirety. This may lead to financial mistakes. We develop a quantitative theory of unsecured credit and equilibrium default in a market with sophisticated and naïve borrowers who sometimes misunderstand their...