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A New Look at the Effects of the Interest Rate Ceiling in Arkansas

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Abstract

Arkansas has been a popular place to study the effects of rate ceilings because of its exceptionally low interest rate ceiling. This paper examines the effects of the Arkansas rate ceiling on credit use by nonprime consumers in Arkansas, who are especially vulnerable to credit rationing because of the low ceiling. We compare the level and composition of consumer debt of nonprime consumers in Arkansas with that of prime Arkansas consumers and also nonprime consumers in the neighboring states. We find that nonprime consumers in Arkansas are less likely to have consumer debt and, conditional on having debt, have slightly lower levels of consumer debt than prime Arkansas consumers and nonprime consumers in neighboring states. Types of credit used by nonprime consumers in Arkansas tend to differ from those of the comparison groups. Notable is much lower use of consumer finance loans, traditionally an important source of credit for higher risk consumers. This finding suggests rate-based rationing of risky consumers. Also notable is lower use of bank credit despite federal preemption of the rate ceiling for banks. This result is consistent with banks’ traditional avoidance of risky lending.

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  • Gregory E. Elliehausen & Simona Hannon & Thomas W. Miller, Jr., 2021. "A New Look at the Effects of the Interest Rate Ceiling in Arkansas," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2021-045r1, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), revised 05 May 2023.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2021-45
    DOI: 10.17016/FEDS.2021.045r1
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumer Credit; Access to Credit; Interest Rate Cap; Financial Regulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General

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