Mortgage Design, Repayment Schedules, and Household Borrowing

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Backman, Claes; Moran, Patrick; Van Santen, Peter
• 署名单位: Federal Reserve System - USA; Federal Reserve System Board of Governors; University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; University of Groningen
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF FINANCIAL STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0893-9454; 1465-7368
• DOI: 10.1093/rfs/hhaf115
• 发表日期: 2026-08
• 页码: 2549-2594
• 关键词: G51; G21; E21; e6; consumption; debt; liquidity; demand

摘要

How does the design of debt repayment schedules affect household borrowing? To answer this question, we exploit a Swedish policy reform that eliminated interest-only mortgages for loan-to-value ratios above 50%. We document substantial bunching at the threshold, leading to 5% lower borrowing. Wealthy borrowers drive the results, challenging credit constraints as the primary explanation. We develop a model to evaluate the mechanisms driving household behavior and find that much of the effect comes from households experiencing ongoing flow disutility to amortization payments. Our results indicate that mortgage contracts with low initial payments substantially increase household borrowing and lifetime interest costs.