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Consumer Finance

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Tufano

    (Harvard Business School, National Bureau of Economic Research, and Doorways to Dreams Fund, Inc. Boston, Massachusetts 02163)

Abstract

Although consumer finance is a substantial element of the economy, it has had a smaller footprint within financial economics. In this review, I suggest a functional definition of the subfield of consumer finance, focusing on four key functions: payments, risk management, moving funds from today to tomorrow (saving/investing), and from tomorrow to today (borrowing). I provide data showing the economic importance of consumer finance in the American economy. I propose a historical explanation for its relative lack of attention by financial economists and in business school curricula based on historic geographic and gender splits between business and consumer studies. I review the literature in consumer finance, organized by its focus on the consumer, financial institutions, and the government. This work is spread out between economics, marketing, psychology, sociology, technology, and public policy. Finally, I suggest a number of open research questions.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Tufano, 2009. "Consumer Finance," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 227-247, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:anr:refeco:v:1:y:2009:p:227-248
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    File URL: http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.financial.050808.114457
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Marianna Brunetti & Elena Giarda & Costanza Torricelli, 2016. "Is Financial Fragility a Matter of Illiquidity? An Appraisal for Italian Households," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(4), pages 628-649, December.
    2. Disney, Richard & Gathergood, John, 2013. "Financial literacy and consumer credit portfolios," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2246-2254.
    3. Fligstein, Neil & Goldstein, Adam, 2012. "The Emergence of a Finance Culture in American Households, 1989-2007," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt6vp6p588, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    4. Bergerès, Anne-Sophie & d'Astous, Philippe & Dionne, Georges, 2015. "Is there any dependence between consumer credit line utilization and default probability on a term loan? Evidence from bank-customer data," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 276-286.
    5. Gathergood, John, 2012. "Self-control, financial literacy and consumer over-indebtedness," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 590-602.
    6. Georgarakos, Dimitris & Inderst, Roman, 2011. "Financial advice and stock market participation," Working Paper Series 1296, European Central Bank.
    7. Benjamin J. Keys & Tomasz Piskorski & Amit Seru & Vincent Yao, 2014. "Mortgage Rates, Household Balance Sheets, and the Real Economy," NBER Working Papers 20561, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Anderson, Laurel & Ostrom, Amy L. & Corus, Canan & Fisk, Raymond P. & Gallan, Andrew S. & Giraldo, Mario & Mende, Martin & Mulder, Mark & Rayburn, Steven W. & Rosenbaum, Mark S. & Shirahada, Kunio & W, 2013. "Transformative service research: An agenda for the future," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1203-1210.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    household finance; personal finance; consumer behavior; behavioral economics; behavioral finance; retail financial institutions; functional perspective;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

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