Think Twice or Be Wise in Consumer Credit Choices

53 Pages Posted: 14 Jun 2013 Last revised: 22 Aug 2019

See all articles by Lena Jaroszek

Lena Jaroszek

Copenhagen Business School - Department of Finance

Date Written: August 21, 2019

Abstract

This paper analyzes why consumers use relatively expensive short-term credit. Consumers are heterogeneous in their susceptibility to short-term credit use. Specifically, I find that consumers with low financial literacy and consumers who do not think twice about their decisions use overdraft credit more frequently. The empirical evidence builds on rich household survey data from Germany, where 80% of the population has access to overdraft credit. I confirm the results when controlling for borrowing constraints, and for omitted variables through an IV approach. The evidence on borrower characteristics can help to inform evaluations of existing policies and targeting new policies.

Keywords: household finance, cognitive reflection, financial literacy, expert intuition

JEL Classification: D12, D14

Suggested Citation

Jaroszek, Lena, Think Twice or Be Wise in Consumer Credit Choices (August 21, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2278835 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2278835

Lena Jaroszek (Contact Author)

Copenhagen Business School - Department of Finance ( email )

Solbjerg Plads 3
Frederiksberg C, DK - 2000
Denmark

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
340
Abstract Views
3,168
Rank
183,139
PlumX Metrics