A Quantitative Theory of Information and Unsecured Credit

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Athreya, Kartik; Tam, Xuan S.; Young, Eric R.
• 署名单位: Federal Reserve System - USA; Federal Reserve Bank - Richmond; University of Cambridge; University of Virginia
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-MACROECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7707
• DOI: 10.1257/mac.4.3.153
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 153-183
• 关键词: bankruptcy; MARKETS

摘要

Important changes have occurred in unsecured credit markets over the past three decades. Most prominently, there have been large increases in aggregate consumer debt, the personal bankruptcy rate, the size of bankruptcies, the dispersion of interest rates paid by borrowers, and the relative discount received by those with good credit ratings. We find that improvements in information available to lenders on household-level costs of bankruptcy can account for a significant fraction of what has been observed. The ex ante welfare gains from better information are positive but small.