Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/153590 
Year of Publication: 
2010
Series/Report no.: 
ECB Working Paper No. 1156
Publisher: 
European Central Bank (ECB), Frankfurt a. M.
Abstract: 
Using comparable survey data from twelve European countries from 1994 to 2001 we investigate households’ attitudes towards mortgage indebtedness. We find that a given debt burden creates much higher distress in countries with fewer mortgage holders relative to countries where a significant part of households uses mortgage debt. This effect is net of ppp-adjusted income levels, various socioeconomic characteristics, housing traits, country-specific constant terms, and household unobserved heterogeneity. We show that households evaluate their own debt burden partly in comparison with the debt position of their peer group and in a way consistent with social stigma considerations which lessen in significance as markets expand.
Subjects: 
credit markets
financial distress
Household finance
Mortgage debt
peer effects
JEL: 
D12
D14
G21
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.