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Household Debt and Consumer Spending in Korea: Evidence from Household Data

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  • Kim, Young Il
  • Hwang, Min

Abstract

Household debt in Korea raises concerns about the resilience of the economy due to its size and quality. Against this backdrop, we investigate if household leverage matters for private consumption in adverse economic environments even without severe financial disruptions. We find that the balance sheet positions in terms of the leverage ratio may weaken consumption growth. We also find that the depressive effect of debt on consumption may differ across types of consumer spending and household characteristics. In particular, the effects of indebtedness have been much stronger in relation to durable goods expenditures than in other areas. In addition, debtors in highincome (wealth) groups have also shown downward adjustments in consumption even more so than low-income (wealth) groups. These findings imply that debtors' precautionary behavior may serve as an important channel from leverage to consumer spending.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim, Young Il & Hwang, Min, 2016. "Household Debt and Consumer Spending in Korea: Evidence from Household Data," KDI Journal of Economic Policy, Korea Development Institute (KDI), vol. 38(4), pages 23-44.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:kdijep:200797
    DOI: 10.23895/kdijep.2016.38.4.23
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    Cited by:

    1. Philip Du Caju & Guillaume Perilleux & François Rycx & Ilan Tojerow, 2021. "A Bigger House at the Cost of an Empty Fridge? The Effect of Households' Indebtedness on their Consumption: Micro-Evidence Using Belgian HFCS Data," Working Papers CEB 21-004, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    2. Philip Caju & Guillaume Périlleux & François Rycx & Ilan Tojerow, 2023. "A bigger house at the cost of an empty stomach? The effect of households’ indebtedness on their consumption: micro-evidence using Belgian HFCS data," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 291-333, March.
    3. Kim, Youngil, 2019. "Risks of Short-termism in Macro-prudential Policy Making: The Case of Household Debt in Korea," KDI Policy Forum 272, Korea Development Institute (KDI).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Household debt; Consumption; Leverage;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)

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