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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. Di, Wenhua & Su, Yichen, 2024. "Conspicuous consumption: Vehicle purchases by non-prime consumers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 895-914.
    6. Sebastian Doerr & Thomas Drechsel & Donggyu Lee, 2022. "Income Inequality and Job Creation," Staff Reports 1021, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    7. Sebastian Doerr & Thomas Drechsel & Donggyu Lee, 2021. "Income inequality, financial intermediation, and small firms," BIS Working Papers 944, Bank for International Settlements.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. 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).
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. Vijverberg, Chu-Ping C., 2024. "Income inequality and household debt: A U.S. state-level spatial analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    15. Kim Nguyen, 2022. "Do Australian Households Borrow to Keep up with the Joneses?," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2022-06, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    16. 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).
    17. Cantarella, Michele & Kavonius, Ilja Kristian, 2022. "Job polarisation and household borrowing," Working Paper Series 2683, European Central Bank.
    18. 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.
    19. Wang, Shengquan, 2023. "Income inequality and systemic banking crises: A nonlinear nexus," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 47(4).

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