Purpose: To determine the influence of COVID-19 and the first 2020 lockdown on Flemish people's initial travel behaviour perceptions, a hypothetical scenario was posed to respondents where they were asked to keep in mind a situation where they might be able to travel again during the summer of...

This paper shows that the provision of consumer rights can decrease welfare when some consumers remain ignorant of these rights. We find that consumers uninformed about a mandated warranty demand excessively safe products in some circumstances. In other circumstances, uninformed consumers buy...

In the wake of the global financial crisis, several large bank rescues by governments further entrenched bail-out expectations in the wider public. Then, following a problematic ad-hoc bail-in in Cyprus early 2013, EU rules introduced provisions for 'bail-in', that is, the administrative power...

The consumer debt of households in Germany totals in the triple-digit billions and is characterized by a wide range of interest rates. Despite the high volume of debt, many people do not know the terms of their consumer credit contracts. This report analyzes new survey data on general knowledge...

In Deutschland addieren sich die Konsumschulden der Haushalte auf ein Volumen in dreistelliger Milliardenhöhe und zeichnen sich durch sehr unterschiedliche Zinskosten aus. Viele Menschen kennen jedoch die Konditionen ihrer eigenen Kredite für Konsumzwecke nicht. Der vorliegende Bericht...

Immer wieder werden auf der EU-Ebene und in den EU-Mitgliedstaaten neue Gesetze geschaffen, die unfaire Designmuster bei Nutzeroberflächen auf Websites vor allem durch Verbote beseitigen sollen. Diese legalistische Politik erfordert jedoch Ergänzungen, die von der Bundesregierung bislang nicht...

We specify and estimate a lifecycle model of consumption, housing demand and labor supply in an environment where individuals may file for bankruptcy or default on their mortgage. Uncertainty in the model is driven by house price shocks, education specific productivity shocks, and catastrophic...

This paper discusses first the role of mobile money accounts to enhance financial inclusion towards vulnerable groups in developing countries in the light of recent empirical evidence. Second, we explore the role of regulation to address risks to consumers and the financial system arising from...

This paper utilizes high-quality transaction data from the largest bank in Denmark to study what drives the demand for high-cost consumption loans. I investigate the extent to which adverse events drive loan demand, or if it is more likely to be explained by borrowers' personality traits. I find...

The recent expansion of digital financial products leads to severe consumer protection issues such as fraud and scams. As these potentially decrease trust in digital services, especially in developing countries, avoiding victimization has become an important policy objective. In an online...