One suggested hypothesis for the dramatic rise in household borrowing that preceded the financial crisis is that low-income households increased their demand for credit to finance higher consumption expenditures in order to “keep up” with higher-income households. Using household level data...

Young borrowers are the least experienced financially and, conventionally, thought to be most prone to financial problems. Our results challenge the notion that young borrowers are bad credit card users. We first show that the CARD Act of 2009 succeeded in its aim of reducing young borrowers'...

Sound household financial conditions are relevant for both financial and monetary stability. Therefore, we analyse household financial fragility in a sample of euro area countries with the aim to shed some light on the nature of the large debt increase accumulated in recent years. We focus on...

Payday loans are widely condemned as a “predatory debt trap.” We test that claim by researching how households in Georgia and North Carolina have fared since those states banned payday loans in May 2004 and December 2005. Compared with households in states where payday lending is permitted,...

Purpose - to analyse the main borrowing alternatives available to Lithuanian households and the credit market as a whole, focusing on its peer-to-peer (P2P) segment, the forecast of its growth, and possible challenges. Research methodology - the research methods applied were scientific...

This article maintains that the annual percentage rate (APR) is not an adequate measure of the cost of a consumer loan and therefore the central role of APR in consumer credit legislation should end. For decades, researchers, consumer groups and financial institutions have argued for simpler...

This paper examines the disparity in default risk between vulnerable and non-vulnerable populations in consumer lending. We merge an exhaustive registry of loans granted in the financial system with microdata on vulnerable individuals applying for social programs. We estimate the sources of this...

In this study, we set up a DSGE model with upward looking consumption comparison and show that consumption externalities are an important driver of consumer credit dynamics. Our model economy is populated by two different household types. Investors, who hold the economy's capital stock, own the...

In this study, the relation between consumer credit and real economic activity during the Great Moderation is studied in a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model. Our model economy is populated by two different household types. Investors, who hold the economy’s capital stock, own the...

We document the cyclical properties of unsecured consumer credit (procyclical and volatile) and of consumer bankruptcies (countercyclical and very volatile). Using a growth model with household heterogeneity in earnings and assets with access to unsecured credit (because of bankruptcy costs) and...