Self-imposed liquidity constraints via voluntary debt repayment

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Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä

Date

2023-11

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Mcode

Degree programme

Language

en

Pages

20

Series

Journal of Financial Economics, Volume 150, issue 2, pp. 1-20

Abstract

Debt-repayment flexibility should help temporarily liquidity-constrained households but not necessarily households struggling to save. In a natural experiment in which households can apply for free mortgage-repayment flexibility, I find that two-thirds of liquidity-constrained applicants with high-cost debt voluntarily restrict flexibility and forgo, on average, 4,070 EUR of low-cost liquidity. An overconsumption tendency reflecting self-control problems can explain the voluntary liquidity restrictions as well as the persistent liquidity constraints, the consumption drop at the predictable end of flexibility, and saving in other illiquid assets. Self-imposed liquidity constraints reflect characteristics instead of circumstances and reduce the potency of debt-forbearance offers in recessions.

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Keywords

Liquidity constraints, Mortgages, Flexibility, Self-control, Commitment, Consumption smoothing

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Citation

Vihriälä, E 2023, ' Self-imposed liquidity constraints via voluntary debt repayment ', Journal of Financial Economics, vol. 150, no. 2, 103708, pp. 1-20 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2023.103708