Household Debt Overhang and Transmission of Monetary Policy

We investigate how the level of household indebtedness affects the monetary transmission mechanism in the U.S. economy. Using state‐dependent local projection methods, we find that the effects of monetary policy are less powerful during periods of high household debt. In particular, the impact of monetary policy shocks is smaller on GDP, consumption, residential investment, house prices, and household debt during a high‐debt state. We then build a partial equilibrium model of borrower households with financial constraints to rationalize these facts. The model points to the weakening of the home equity loan channel as a possible reason for the decline in monetary policy effectiveness when initial debt levels are high.     

Debt Overhang and Lack of Lender's Commitment

The debt overhang of sovereigns or firms is modeled in the recent literature as a constrained efficient outcome of dynamic debt contracts under the lack of the borrower's commitment, where debt relief is not Pareto-improving. The early literature observes another type of debt overhang where the borrower is discouraged from expending effort, anticipating the lender to take all output ex post. We show that this inefficiency is due to the lack of the lender's commitment and debt relief is Pareto-improving. Nevertheless, debt overhang may persist, as frictional bargaining over debt relief can take a long time.     

Tobin's Q, Debt Overhang, and Investment

Incorporating debt in a dynamic real options framework, we show that underinvestment stems from truncation of equity's horizon at default. Debt overhang distorts both the level and composition of investment, with underinvestment being more severe for long‐lived assets. An empirical proxy for the shadow price of capital to equity is derived. Use of this proxy yields a structural test for debt overhang and its mitigation through issuance of additional secured debt. Using measurement error‐consistent GMM estimators, we find a statistically significant debt overhang effect regardless of firms' ability to issue additional secured debt.     

A Theory of Debt Maturity: The Long and Short of Debt Overhang

Debt maturity influences debt overhang, the reduced incentive for highly levered borrowers to make real investments because some value accrues to debt. Reducing maturity can increase or decrease overhang even when shorter term debt's value depends less on firm value. Future overhang is more volatile for shorter term debt, making future investment incentives volatile and influencing immediate investment incentives. With immediate investment, shorter term debt typically imposes lower overhang; longer term debt can impose less if asset volatility is higher in bad times. For future investments, reduced correlation between assets‐in‐place and investment opportunities increases the shorter term debt overhang.     

Debt Overhang, Costly Expandability and Reversibility, and Optimal Financial Structure

Abstract:   This article compares the investment and financing decisions of a firm that adopts a 'first‐best' strategy with those of a firm that adopts a 'second‐best' strategy. The former issues bonds upon deciding an initial capacity, while the latter issues bonds, and only then decides an initial capacity. The former is thus able to avoid the agency cost associated with the 'debt overhang' problem. Accordingly, the former will both issue more bonds and install a larger initial capacity than the latter. However, the agency cost of debt, i.e., firm value difference between these two strategies, is modest for plausible parameter values.     

Mortgage Debt Overhang: Reduced Investment by Homeowners at Risk of Default

Homeowners at risk of default face a debt overhang that reduces their incentive to invest in their property: in expectation, some value created by investments in the property will go to the lender. This agency conflict affects housing investments. Homeowners at risk of default cut back substantially on home improvements and mortgage principal payments, even when they appear financially unconstrained. Meanwhile, they do not reduce spending on assets that they may retain in default, including home appliances, furniture, and vehicles. These findings highlight an important financial friction that has stifled housing investment since the Great Recession.     

居民部门债务增长的宏观效应

<正>随着居民储蓄率下行和居民可支配收入增速放缓,居民部门债务的快速积累以及不平衡的债务分布,给我国宏观经济和金融稳定带来了诸多不确定性因素随着居民消费观念的转变与金融资源可获得性的提升,居民债务作为消费平滑的工具之一,满足了越来越多居民的大额资产购置与跨期消费需求,有效地支持了我国经济的快速发展与转型。然而,居民部门债务的快速积累也给宏观经济与金融稳定带来了隐忧。大量国际经验表明,居民债务的快速且过度累积会放大宏观经济的脆弱性,甚至可能引发系统性的金融风险。     

Household Debt and Income Inequality, 1963–2003

I construct an economy with heterogeneous agents that mimics the time-series behavior of the earnings distribution in the United States from 1963 to 2003. Agents face aggregate and idiosyncratic shocks and accumulate real and financial assets. I estimate the shocks that drive the model using data on income inequality, aggregate income, and measures of financial liberalization. I show how the model economy can replicate two empirical facts: the trend and cyclical behavior of household debt and the diverging patterns in consumption and wealth inequality over time. While business cycle fluctuations can account for the short-run changes in household debt, its prolonged rise of the 1980s and the 1990s can be quantitatively explained only by the concurrent increase in income inequality.     

中国家庭居民的债务素养及其影响研究

针对中国家庭居民债务素养研究缺乏的现状,采纳CHFS的大型实地调查数据,定量分析中国家庭居民债务素养的具体表现及其对经济、健康、国民幸福感的影响。债务素养包括五大维度、六个指标。研究表明,债务素养可通过影响家庭创业概率、消费结构升级进而作用于经济发展;"健康中国"的理念离不开高债务素养的居民;保持其他控制变量不变,高债务素养能显著提高家庭的幸福感,是社会幸福的根基。相关政策建议包括:债务素养多维度的积极作用和影响迫切要求将中国居民债务素养的建设提升到战略地位;积极采纳互联网金融服务以有效促进消费结构升级及促进居民健康水平;完善其他配套措施以保证债务素养作用渠道的畅通。     

Household Level Economic Incentives, Unemployment Trap and Job Finding Probability

This paper considers the sensitivity of the household's disposable income with respect to the labour market states and the labour market transitions of unemployed workers. The paper analyses the following questions: (i) which are the determinants of starting wages? (ii) how many unemployed are in the unemployment trap? (iii) how do household level economic incentives affect the conditional probability of finding a job? The empirical analysis is based on individual panel data covering the years 1987–1993 in Finland, when the unemployment rate rose from about 4% to 18%. We have estimated the starting wage equation to calculate the effects of hypothetical re-employment on the household's disposable income and to evaluate the frequency of the unemployment trap. To analyse factors affecting the transition out of unemployment to employment in open labour market, we estimate unemployment duration using a semi-parametric proportional risk model. The paper shows that the impact of the economic incentives, measured by the hypothetical change in household disposable income, on employment is more important in the recession than in the boom.     

基于宏观资产负债表的居民债务问题及其风险研究

本文从宏观资产负债表的编制出发,对比世界主要经济体的居民债务演变,有效度量中国居民部门的债务杠杆水平。通过宏观部门经济间的关联,构造基于存量-流量一致的部门结构化均衡模型,剖析居民部门债务风险的传导机制,分析货币、财政和地产政策在居民债务风险防范中的作用。结果表明:中国居民部门金融资产负债率和偿债比例偏高,偿债压力逐步加大。但适中的资产负债率和较高的潜在经济增速为我国居民部门债务风险的化解提供了足够的空间。紧缩性货币政策有利于居民部门去杠杆化,但由此引发的消费减速和经济下行将导致企业和政府部门债务攀升;减税较政府直接支出更能激发消费内需、降低居民和企业债务杠杆,同时,长期经济的好转利于政府债务风险稳定。紧缩性地产政策虽然有助于长期经济结构的调整,但需防范短期经济下滑。     

Hidden Overhang of Domestic Debt and Its Role in the This-Time-Is-Different Syndrome: An Empirical Contingent Liabilities Model

The recent studies in public finance literature open an exciting research area on hidden overhang of domestic public debt and creative accounting. In this study, I identify hidden public debts in Turkey. I then develop a dynamical model that takes as given the stock of contingent liabilities generated by lending/borrowing relationships among public entities and looks for the debt (in)tolerance of government to liquidate it in finite periods. Last, I introduce a general empirical methodology to analyze the role of overborrowing in the this-time-is-different syndrome and test model outcome against data for hidden debts in Turkey's postliberalization period (1989-2010).     

数字金融对居民负债行为的影响研究

本文基于中国家庭金融调查数据(CHFS),构建Probit和Tobit模型分别考察数字金融对居民家庭是否产生负债行为和家庭负债率的影响。研究发现：数字金融对居民家庭负债行为和家庭负债率都具有显著的促进作用,并且数字金融对家庭负债率的影响会因居民受教育水平和收入水平不同而产生异质性,即数字金融对中低学历和中低收入家庭负债率的提升作用更显著。在进行内生性和稳健性检验后,结论依然成立。本文对释放数字金融红利、警示过度负债带来财务风险具有一定的政策指导意义。     

Household Response to Government Debt: Evidence from Life Insurance Holdings

We use state‐level panel data on life insurance in force in the United States and find that a $1 increase in government debt, at either the state or federal level is associated with a $0.96 increase in the face value of the average life insurance holdings per capita for a household in the average state. This increase represents an intention to save that would almost completely offset the government debt in specific states of the world (i.e., if the insured dies). Because this state of the world is rare, the immediate increase in actual savings is only about $0.03, the cost of the additional insurance. We find, in addition, that this response occurs mainly on the intensive margin, meaning that the size of the average life insurance policy increases when government debt increases. Along the extensive margin, we find the number of policies in force falls slightly with federal debt, and rises slightly with state debt increases. The results show altruistic planning in response to changes in government debt that are consistent with Ricardian Equivalence and the long‐run neutrality of government debt.     

Capital Gains Tax Overhang and Price Pressure

I study whether the capital gains tax is an impediment to selling by some investors and if so, to what degree associated delayed selling affects stock prices. I find that selling decisions by institutions serving tax‐sensitive clients are sensitive to cumulative capital gains, a pattern not observed for institutions with predominantly tax‐exempt clients. Moreover, tax‐related underselling impacts stock prices during large earnings surprises for stocks held primarily by tax‐sensitive investors. The corresponding price reactions are less negative (more positive) with higher cumulative capital gains. This price pressure pattern is more severe when arbitrage is more costly.     

家庭债务与社会资本对居民健康水平影响的实证分析

家庭债务与社会资本对居民健康状况存在重要影响。本文利用中国综合社会调查 （CGSS）数据，实证分析了债务与社会资本对居民健康的影响。研究发现：家庭债务对居民健 康状况具有负面影响，社会资本对居民健康状况具有积极影响，且两者对健康状况的影响存在 城乡异质性与区域异质性。非银行负债对健康的恶化作用要大于银行负债，认知性社会资本对 健康的促进作用要高于结构性社会资本。银行负债对城市居民的健康状况不存在显著影响，而 社会资本对农村居民的健康状况不存在显著影响。负债对健康的负面影响按东、中、西部顺序 逐级增加，而社会资本对健康的正面作用则呈现逐级减少的趋势。     

美国家庭负债对净资产积累的影响

本文尝试从宏观和微观两个层面,对美国家庭的负债现状和变化轨迹、各类负债群体的财富特征、负债深度和债务用途等进行细致探索,以期发现家庭负债对家庭财富积累和投资意识等的影响方式与深度。本项研究对于揭示美国家庭负债的结构特征,深入研究家庭负债与家庭经济之间的数量化关系以及未来在我国建立科学和可行的家庭资产统计制度、准确识别我国居民家庭债务和变化趋势等具有理论和现实意义。     

基于VECM模型的信贷约束、家庭债务与中国宏观经济波动分析

采用1997~2013年家庭债务、贷款价值比与 GDP 增长率等变量数据,在借鉴 Kim 的模型基础上,构建 VECM 模型,检验了信贷约束、家庭债务与中国宏观经济波动之间的关系。结果表明：短期内宽松的借贷约束促进了家庭债务的增加,从而推动经济增长,但从长期来看,宽松的借贷约束会导致家庭债务过高,阻碍长期经济增长;与居民消费率、家庭债务等变量相比,贷款价值比、利率对宏观经济波动的影响较大。因此,政府决策部门应制定合理的消费金融政策,居民应通过优化家庭资产组合,以实现家庭债务的可持续性增长,从而促进经济增长。     

Variable Rate Debt Instruments and Corporate Debt Policy

Sustained high rate of inflation has led to the creation of debt instruments with variable interest rate. The availability of these debt instruments presents management with the problem of the choice of the optimal debt portfolio. This paper deals with this problem assuming a given, and optimal, debt to equity ratio. Given expected monetary value maximization, an efficient frontier is derived in terms of the expected net income and probability of bankruptcy, where net income is defined as operating income minus debt repayment. This efficient frontier is shown to be also mean-variance efficient. It is also shown that in most cases the optimal debt portfolio includes more than one debt instrument. In other words, the firm will avoid the policy of minimizing the expected cost of its debt repayments or the policy of minimizing the costs of bankruptcy. The optimal solution itself is affected by market variables like the relative expected cost of different debt instruments and by firm specific variables like the variability of its operating income stream, and the covariance between the operating income and the debt repayments.     

预防性监管与公司产能过剩--基于年报问询函的研究证据北大核心

本文研究年报问询函这一预防性监管制度能否推动公司去产能,并探究其作用机制和经济后果。研究发现,相比未被问询的公司,被问询的公司收函后产能过剩水平显著下降;该结果在媒体负面报道较多的公司、地方政府治理水平较高的地区中更为明显,表明年报问询函通过降低市场、政府与公司间的信息不对称,强化市场和政府的治理效应,进而有效促使公司去产能。影响机制检验表明,年报问询函主要通过优化资源配置、减少代理问题作用于去产能。经济后果方面,年报问询函会提升被问询公司的生产效率和经营业绩。