Attitudes Toward Debt and Debt Behavior

Annamaria Lusardi (), Johan Almenberg, Säve-Söderbergh, Jenny and Roine Vestman

No 14801, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: We introduce a novel survey measure of attitude toward debt. Matching our survey results with panel data on Swedish household balance sheets from registry data, we show that our debt attitude measure helps explain individual variation in indebtedness as well as debt build-up and spending behavior in the period 2004–2007. As an explanatory variable, debt attitude compares well to a number of other determinants of debt, including education, risk-taking, and financial literacy. We also provide evidence that suggests that debt attitude is passed down along family lines and has a cultural element.

Keywords: Personal finance; Spending; Intergenerational transmission; Attitude survey; Household borrowing decisions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D14 D91 E21 G51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cwa, nep-fle and nep-mac
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Attitudes towards Debt and Debt Behavior (2021)
Working Paper: Attitudes Toward Debt and Debt Behavior (2018)
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