TY  - JOUR
AU  - Attanasio,Orazio
AU  - Goldberg,Pinelopi K.
AU  - Kyriazidou,Ekaterini
TI  - Credit Constraints in the Market for Consumer Durables: Evidence from Micro Data on Car Loans
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 7694
PY  - 2000
Y2  - May 2000
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7694
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7694.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Orazio Attanasio
Department of Economics
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel: 44/20-76795880
Fax: 44/20-79162775
E-Mail: o.attanasio@ucl.ac.uk

Pinelopi K. Goldberg
Yale University
Department  of Economics
37 Hillhouse Ave.
P.O. Box 208264
New Haven, CT 06520-8264
E-Mail: penny.goldberg@yale.edu
AB  - We investigate the empirical significance of borrowing constraints in the market for consumer loans. We set up a theoretical model of consumer loan demand, which in the presence of credit rationing implies restrictions on the elasticities of loan demand with respect to the interest rate and the maturity of the loan. We estimate these elasticities and test the theoretical implications using micro data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (1984-1995) on auto loan contracts. The econometric specification that we employ accounts for important features of the data: selection, censoring, and simultaneity. Our results suggest that credit constraints are binding for some groups in the population, in particular for young and low-income households.
ER  -