How accurately do consumers report their debts in household surveys?

Carlos Madeira

Working Papers Central Bank of Chile from Central Bank of Chile

Abstract: This article advances upon previous studies by using a unique match of a representative sample of individual borrowers from the Chilean Household Finance Survey and their banking loan records. I show that surveys differ from the credit registry, both in the number of loans reported and the debt amounts, with a substantial degree of heterogeneity. Delinquency status is accurately reported by survey respondents. Furthermore, a substantial fraction of the discrepancies can be explained by rounding error in survey answers. Finally, I find that discrepancies are larger when respondents are not the highest-income member of the family.

Date: 2026-03
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Working Paper: How accurately do consumers report their debts in household surveys? (2025)
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