IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eecrev/v91y2017icp72-88.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Amortization requirements and household indebtedness: An application to Swedish-style mortgages

Author

Listed:
  • Hull, Isaiah

Abstract

Since the mid-1990s, many OECD countries have experienced a substantial increase in household indebtedness. Sweden, in particular, has seen indebtedness rise from 90% of disposable income in 1995 to 179% in 2015. The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) has identified mortgage amortization requirements as a potential instrument for reducing indebtedness; and has drafted guidelines that will intensify the rate and duration of amortization. In this paper, I characterize Swedish-style mortgage contracts, which differ substantially from U.S.-style contracts. I then evaluate the policy changes in an incomplete markets model with three types of debt and a novel mortgage contract specification that is calibrated to match Swedish micro and macro data. I find that intensifying the rate and duration of amortization is largely ineffective at reducing indebtedness in a realistically-calibrated model. In the absence of tight restrictions on the maximum debt-service-to-income ratio or implausibly large refinancing costs, the policy impact is small in aggregate, over the lifecycle, and across employment statuses.

Suggested Citation

  • Hull, Isaiah, 2017. "Amortization requirements and household indebtedness: An application to Swedish-style mortgages," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 72-88.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:91:y:2017:i:c:p:72-88
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2016.09.011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014292116301507
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2016.09.011?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christiano, Lawrence J. & Trabandt, Mathias & Walentin, Karl, 2011. "Introducing financial frictions and unemployment into a small open economy model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 1999-2041.
    2. Mr. Jiaqian Chen & Mr. Francesco Columba, 2016. "Macroprudential and Monetary Policy Interactions in a DSGE Model for Sweden," IMF Working Papers 2016/074, International Monetary Fund.
    3. S. Rao Aiyagari, 1994. "Uninsured Idiosyncratic Risk and Aggregate Saving," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(3), pages 659-684.
    4. Robert J. Shiller, 2007. "Understanding recent trends in house prices and homeownership," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 89-123.
    5. Iacoviello, Matteo & Pavan, Marina, 2013. "Housing and debt over the life cycle and over the business cycle," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 221-238.
    6. Karsten Jeske, 2005. "Macroeconomic models with heterogeneous agents and housing," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, vol. 90(Q4), pages 39-56.
    7. Andrew Glover & Jonathan Heathcote & Dirk Krueger & José-Víctor Ríos-Rull, 2020. "Intergenerational Redistribution in the Great Recession," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(10), pages 3730-3778.
    8. Adolfson, Malin & Laséen, Stefan & Lindé, Jesper & Villani, Mattias, 2008. "Evaluating an estimated new Keynesian small open economy model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 2690-2721, August.
    9. Matt Chambers & Carlos Garriga & Don Schlagenhauf, 2009. "The Loan Structure and Housing Tenure Decisions in an Equilibrium Model of Mortgage Choice," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 12(3), pages 444-468, July.
    10. Hull, Isaiah, 2015. "The macro-financial implications of house price-indexed mortgage contracts," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 81-85.
    11. Aldrich, Eric M. & Fernández-Villaverde, Jesús & Ronald Gallant, A. & Rubio-Ramírez, Juan F., 2011. "Tapping the supercomputer under your desk: Solving dynamic equilibrium models with graphics processors," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 386-393, March.
    12. Wilhelmsson, Mats, 2008. "House price depreciation rates and level of maintenance," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 88-101, March.
    13. Tomasz Piskorski & Alexei Tchistyi, 2010. "Optimal Mortgage Design," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(8), pages 3098-3140, August.
    14. Mr. Lars E. O. Svensson, 2016. "Amortization Requirements May Increase Household Debt: A Simple Example," IMF Working Papers 2016/083, International Monetary Fund.
    15. Bjørnland, Hilde C. & Jacobsen, Dag Henning, 2010. "The role of house prices in the monetary policy transmission mechanism in small open economies," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 218-229, December.
    16. Robert J. Shiller, 2007. "Understanding recent trends in house prices and homeownership," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 89-123.
    17. João F. Cocco, 2013. "Evidence on the Benefits of Alternative Mortgage Products," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(4), pages 1663-1690, August.
    18. Huggett, Mark, 1993. "The risk-free rate in heterogeneous-agent incomplete-insurance economies," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 17(5-6), pages 953-969.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sami Alpanda & Hyunji Song & Sarah Zubairy, 2021. "Household Debt and the Effects of Fiscal Policy," Working Papers 20210928-001, Texas A&M University, Department of Economics.
    2. Mr. Lars E. O. Svensson, 2016. "Amortization Requirements May Increase Household Debt: A Simple Example," IMF Working Papers 2016/083, International Monetary Fund.
    3. Bäckman, Claes & Khorunzhina, Natalia, 2020. "Interest-Only Mortgages and Consumption Growth: Evidence from a Mortgage Market Reform," MPRA Paper 98524, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. PROSKUROVSKA Anetta & DÖRRY Sabine, 2018. "Is a Blockchain-based conveyance system the next step in the financialisation of housing? The case of Sweden," LISER Working Paper Series 2018-17, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    5. Karpestam, Peter & Johansson, Sebastian, 2019. "Interest-only-mortgages and housing market fluctuations in Denmark," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    6. Svensson, Lars E.O., 2020. "Macroprudential Policy and Household Debt: What is Wrong with Swedish Macroprudential Policy?," CEPR Discussion Papers 14585, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hull, Isaiah, 2015. "The macro-financial implications of house price-indexed mortgage contracts," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 81-85.
    2. Fernández-Villaverde, Jesús & Krueger, Dirk, 2011. "Consumption And Saving Over The Life Cycle: How Important Are Consumer Durables?," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(5), pages 725-770, November.
    3. Piazzesi, M. & Schneider, M., 2016. "Housing and Macroeconomics," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1547-1640, Elsevier.
    4. Halket, Jonathan R, 2012. "Existence of an equilibrium in incomplete markets with discrete choices and many markets," Economics Discussion Papers 2875, University of Essex, Department of Economics.
    5. Stijn Claessens & M Ayhan Kose, 2018. "Frontiers of macrofinancial linkages," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 95.
    6. repec:esx:essedp:711 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Essi Eerola & Niku Maattanen, 2018. "Borrowing constraints and housing market liquidity," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 27, pages 184-204, January.
    8. Krueger, D. & Mitman, K. & Perri, F., 2016. "Macroeconomics and Household Heterogeneity," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 843-921, Elsevier.
    9. Modibo Sidibé, 2012. "The Contribution of Housing to the Dynamics of Inequalities," Working Papers halshs-00701151, HAL.
    10. Halket, Jonathan R & Pignatti, Matteo, 2012. "Housing tenure choices with private information," Economics Discussion Papers 8961, University of Essex, Department of Economics.
    11. Athreya, Kartik B., 2014. "Big Ideas in Macroeconomics: A Nontechnical View," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262019736, April.
    12. Isaiah Hull & Or Sattath & Eleni Diamanti & Göran Wendin, 2024. "Quantum Technology for Economists," Contributions to Economics, Springer, number 978-3-031-50780-9.
    13. Halket, Jonathan & Pignatti Morano di Custoza, Matteo, 2015. "Homeownership and the scarcity of rentals," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 107-123.
    14. Yanbin Chen & Fangxing Li & Zhesheng Qiu, 2013. "Housing and Saving with Finance Imperfection," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 14(1), pages 207-248, May.
    15. Krueger, Dirk & Jeske, Karsten & Mitman, Kurt, 2011. "Housing and the Macroeconomy: The Role of Bailout Guarantees for Government Sponsored Enterprises," CEPR Discussion Papers 8624, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Anna Grodecka, 2020. "On the Effectiveness of Loan‐to‐Value Regulation in a Multiconstraint Framework," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(5), pages 1231-1270, August.
    17. Joseph E Stiglitz, 2018. "Where modern macroeconomics went wrong," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 34(1-2), pages 70-106.
    18. Jeske, Karsten & Krueger, Dirk & Mitman, Kurt, 2013. "Housing, mortgage bailout guarantees and the macro economy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(8), pages 917-935.
    19. Robert Kirkby Author-Email: robertkirkby@gmail.com|, 2017. "Convergence of Discretized Value Function Iteration," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 49(1), pages 117-153, January.
    20. Mnasri, A., 2015. "Renting vs buying a home: A matter of wealth accumulation or of geographic stability?," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 42-72.
    21. Fischer, Thomas, 2019. "Determinants of Wealth Inequality and Mobility in General Equilibrium," Working Papers 2019:22, Lund University, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mortgages; Amortization; Heterogeneous Agents; Incomplete Markets; Financial Regulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:91:y:2017:i:c:p:72-88. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eer .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.