Sources of inaction in household finance: evidence from the Danish mortgage market
File(s)SourcesInaction.pdf (1.48 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Andersen, Steffen
Campbell, John Y
Nielsen, Kasper Meisner
Ramadorai, Tarun
Type
Working Paper
Abstract
We build an empirical model to attribute delays in mortgage refinancing to psychological refinancing costs that inhibit refinancing until incentives are strong enough; and to behavior---potentially attributable to information-gathering costs---that lowers the probability that a household refinances in a given period at any incentive. We estimate the model on high-quality administrative panel data from Denmark, where mortgage refinancing without cash-out is unconstrained. Middle-aged and wealthy households act as if they have high psychological refinancing costs; but older, poorer, and less educated households refinance with lower probability irrespective of incentives, and thereby achieve lower savings. We use the model to understand frictions in the mortgage channel of monetary policy transmission.
Date Issued
2014-07-09
Citation
2014
ISSN
0002-8282
Publisher
SSRN
Copyright Statement
© 2014 The Author(s)
Subjects
14 Economics
15 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
Economics