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Financial illiteracy and mortgage refinancing decisions

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  • Bajo, Emanuele
  • Barbi, Massimiliano

Abstract

We analyze the effect of an exogenous shock to the Italian mortgage market, where a reform has abolished prepayment fees and simplified mortgage refinancing, making it a virtually cost-free decision for households. This law, along with the considerable drop in market interest rates, has generated important gains for fixed-rate borrowers, which we quantify at up to 15% of the principal balance. Nevertheless, only about 13% of borrowers have locked in this opportunity. We study the relationship between this sluggish behavior and their level of financial literacy.

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  • Bajo, Emanuele & Barbi, Massimiliano, 2018. "Financial illiteracy and mortgage refinancing decisions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 279-296.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:94:y:2018:i:c:p:279-296
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2018.08.001
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    2. McGowan, Féidhlim & Papadopoulos, Alexandros & Lunn, Pete, 2023. "Who switches and why? A diagnostic survey of retail financial services in Ireland," Papers WP748, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    3. Devine, Kenneth, 2022. "Refinancing Inertia in the Irish Mortgage Market," Research Technical Papers 5/RT/22, Central Bank of Ireland.
    4. Andersen, Steffen & Campbell, John Y. & Meisner-Nielsen, Kasper & Ramadorai, Tarun, 2014. "Inattention and Inertia in Household Finance: Evidence from the Danish Mortgage Market," Scholarly Articles 17492179, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    5. Byrne, Shane & Devine, Kenneth & McCarthy, Yvonne, 2022. "Interrupting inertia: evidence from a mortgage refinancing field trial," Economic Letters 9/EL/22, Central Bank of Ireland.
    6. Steven Malliaris & Daniel A. Rettl & Ruchi Singh, 2022. "Is competition a cure for confusion? Evidence from the residential mortgage market," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(1), pages 206-246, March.
    7. Steffen Andersen & John Y. Campbell & Kasper Meisner Nielsen & Tarun Ramadorai, 2020. "Sources of Inaction in Household Finance: Evidence from the Danish Mortgage Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(10), pages 3184-3230, October.
    8. Robertson, Deirdre & Poluektova, Olga & Lavin, Ciarán & Timmons, Shane & Lunn, Pete, 2024. "A behaviourally-informed app can encourage switching of financial products," Papers WP782, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    9. Hu, Mingzhi & Lin, Zhenguo & Liu, Yingchun, 2024. "Financial literacy and mortgage stress," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    10. Cristian Badarinza & John Y. Campbell & Tarun Ramadorai, 2016. "International Comparative Household Finance," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 8(1), pages 111-144, October.
    11. Brunetti, M. & Ciciretti, R. & Djordjevic, Lj., 2020. "Till mortgage do us part: Mortgage switching costs and household's bank switching," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    12. Morshadul Hasan & Thuhid Noor & Jiechao Gao & Muhammad Usman & Mohammad Zoynul Abedin, 2023. "Rural Consumers’ Financial Literacy and Access to FinTech Services," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(2), pages 780-804, June.
    13. Olafsson, Arna & Gathergood, John, 2020. "The Co-holding Puzzle: New Evidence from Transaction-Level Data," CEPR Discussion Papers 14799, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Martin Hauptfleisch, 2019. "Financial Decision-Making Using Data," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 6-2019, January-A.
    15. Guiso, Luigi & Pozzi, Andrea & Tsoy, Anton & Gambacorta, Leonardo & Mistrulli, Paolo Emilio, 2022. "The cost of steering in financial markets: Evidence from the mortgage market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(3), pages 1209-1226.
    16. Saengchote, Kanis & Samphantharak, Krislert, 2022. "Banking relationship and default priority in consumer credit: Evidence from Thai microdata," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    17. Collins C. Ngwakwe, 2024. "The Impact of Mortgage Rates on Mortgage Refinancing," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 14(2), pages 1-4, March.
    18. Timmons, Shane & Barjaková, Martina & McElvaney, Terry & Lunn, Pete, 2019. "Can official advice improve mortgage-holders’ perceptions of switching? An experimental investigation," Papers WP612, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    19. Lusardi, Annamaria & Mitchell, Olivia S & Oggero, Noemi, 2020. "Understanding Debt in the Older Population," CEPR Discussion Papers 15568, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Papadopoulos, Alexandros & McGowan, Féidhlim & McGinnity, Frances & Timmons, Shane & Lunn, Pete, 2023. "Switching activity in retail financial markets in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS161.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mortgage refinancing; Financial literacy; Household finance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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