TY  - JOUR
AU  - Agarwal,Sumit
AU  - Driscoll,John C.
AU  - Gabaix,Xavier
AU  - Laibson,David
TI  - The Age of Reason: Financial Decisions Over the Lifecycle
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 13191
PY  - 2007
Y2  - June 2007
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13191
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13191.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Sumit Agarwal
Financial Economist
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
230 South LaSalle Street
Chicago, IL 60604-1413
Tel: 312/322-5973
E-Mail: sumit.agarwal@chi.frb.org

John C. Driscoll
Mail Stop 84
Federal Reserve Board
20th and Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20551
Tel: (202)452-2628
Fax: (202)452-2301
E-Mail: John.C.Driscoll@frb.gov

Xavier Gabaix
New York University
Finance Department
Stern School of Business
44 West 4th Street, 9th floor
New York, NY 10012
Tel: 212-998-0257
Fax: 212-995-4233
E-Mail: xgabaix@stern.nyu.edu

David Laibson
Department of Economics
Littauer M-12
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617/496-3402
Fax: 617/495-8570
E-Mail: dlaibson@harvard.edu
AB  - In cross-sectional data sets from ten credit markets, we find that middle-aged adults borrow at lower interest rates and pay fewer fees relative to younger and older adults. Fee and interest payments are minimized around age 53.  The measured effects are not explained by observed risk characteristics.  We discuss several leading factors that may contribute to these effects, including age-related changes in experience and cognitive function, selection effects, and cohort effects.
ER  -