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Greater Inequality and Household Borrowing: New Evidence from Household Data

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  • Olivier Coibion
  • Yuriy Gorodnichenko
  • Marianna Kudlyak
  • John Mondragon

Abstract

Using household-level debt data over 2000–2012 and local variation in inequality, we show that low-income households in high-inequality regions (zip codes, counties, states) accumulated less debt relative to their income than low-income households in lower inequality regions. We also find evidence that low-income households face higher credit prices and reduced access to credit as inequality increases. We argue that these patterns are consistent with inequality tilting credit supply away from low-income households and toward high-income households, which may have long-run implications for outcomes like homeownership or entrepreneurship.

Suggested Citation

  • Olivier Coibion & Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Marianna Kudlyak & John Mondragon, 2020. "Greater Inequality and Household Borrowing: New Evidence from Household Data," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(6), pages 2922-2971.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jeurec:v:18:y:2020:i:6:p:2922-2971.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jeea/jvz076
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    Cited by:

    1. Alina K. Bartscher & Moritz Kuhn & Moritz Schularick & Ulrike I. Steins, 2020. "Modigliani Meets Minsky: Inequality, Debt, and Financial Fragility in America, 1950-2016," Staff Reports 924, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    2. S. Borağan Aruoba & Ronel Elul & Ṣebnem Kalemli-Özcan, 2022. "Housing Wealth and Consumption: The Role of Heterogeneous Credit Constraints," NBER Working Papers 30591, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Magnus A. H. Gulbrandsen, 2021. "Peer effects and debt accumulation: Evidence from lottery winnings," Working Paper 2021/10, Norges Bank.
    4. Jean‐Noël Barrot & Erik Loualiche & Matthew Plosser & Julien Sauvagnat, 2022. "Import Competition and Household Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(6), pages 3037-3091, December.
    5. Sebastian Doerr & Thomas Drechsel & Donggyu Lee, 2021. "Income inequality, financial intermediation, and small firms," BIS Working Papers 944, Bank for International Settlements.
    6. Marrero,Gustavo Alberto & Rodríguez,Juan Gabriel & Van Der Weide,Roy, 2021. "Does Race and Gender Inequality Impact Income Growth ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9865, The World Bank.
    7. Samuel Ligonnière & Salima Ouerk, 2024. "The unequal distribution of credit: Is there any role for monetary policy?," Working Papers of BETA 2024-19, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    8. Bing Han & David Hirshleifer & Johan Walden, 2023. "Visibility Bias in the Transmission of Consumption Beliefs and Undersaving," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 78(3), pages 1647-1704, June.
    9. Domonkos, Tomas & Fisera, Boris & Siranova, Maria, 2023. "Income inequality as long-term conditioning factor of monetary transmission to bank rates," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    10. Anna Samarina & Anh D.M. Nguyen, 2024. "Does Monetary Policy Affect Income Inequality in the Euro Area?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 56(1), pages 35-80, February.
    11. Joshua Brault & Hashmat Khan, 2021. "Indebted Demand in a Two Period Consumption-Saving Model," Carleton Economic Papers 21-13, Carleton University, Department of Economics, revised 05 Jan 2022.
    12. Sebastian Doerr & Thomas Drechsel & Donggyu Lee, 2022. "Income Inequality and Job Creation," Staff Reports 1021, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    13. Kim Nguyen, 2022. "Do Australian Households Borrow to Keep up with the Joneses?," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2022-06, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    14. Brausewetter, Lars & Ludolph, Melina & Tonzer, Lena, 2023. "Distributional income effects of banking regulation in Europe," IWH Discussion Papers 24/2023, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    15. Cantarella, Michele & Kavonius, Ilja Kristian, 2022. "Job polarisation and household borrowing," Working Paper Series 2683, European Central Bank.
    16. Alina K. Bartscher & Moritz Kuhn & Moritz Schularick & Ulrike I. Steins, 2020. "The Distribution of Household Debt in the United States, 1950-2019," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 015, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    17. Wang, Shengquan, 2023. "Income inequality and systemic banking crises: A nonlinear nexus," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 47(4).

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