Search Results

SORT BY: PREVIOUS / NEXT
Author:Athreya, Kartik B. 

Working Paper
Bankruptcy and Delinquency in a Model of Unsecured Debt

This paper documents and interprets two facts central to the dynamics of informal default or "delinquency" on unsecured consumer debt. First, delinquency does not mean a persistent cessation of payment. In particular, we observe that for individuals 60 to 90 days late on payments, 85% make payments during the next quarter that allow them to avoid entering more severe delinquency. Second, many in delinquency (40%) have smaller debt obligations one quarter later. To understand these facts, we develop a theoretically and institutionally plausible model of debt delinquency and bankruptcy. Our ...
Working Paper , Paper 16-12

Briefing
Expanding the Scope of Workforce Development

Workforce development efforts often are geared toward adult workers. But examining workforce development from the perspective of human capital theory suggests that earlier interventions may yield high returns.
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Issue May

Working Paper
Bankruptcy and delinquency in a model of unsecured debt

This paper documents and interprets two facts central to the dynamics of informal default or ?delinquency? on unsecured consumer debt. First, delinquency does not mean a persistent cessation of payment. In particular, we observe that for individuals 60 to 90 days late on payments, 85% make payments during the next quarter that allow them to avoid entering more severe delinquency. Second, many in delinquency (40%) have smaller debt obligations one quarter later. To understand these facts, we develop a theoretically and institutionally plausible model of debt delinquency and bankruptcy. Our ...
Working Papers , Paper 2012-042

Briefing
The spice of life : allowing for heterogeneity in macro models

Macroeconomic models often make simplifying assumptions that suppress differences between people. Changing these assumptions and allowing for "heterogeneity" can enrich analysis of both observed data and policy tradeoffs. Modern macroeconomics has made significant progress in this area, sometimes significantly altering economists' views and policy prescriptions.
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Issue Apr

Journal Article
The cost of unanticipated household finance shocks : two examples

This article presents two simple calculations aimed at providing a first step in quantifying the costs of unanticipated financial shocks to a household. The two types of shocks considered are (1) an unanticipated drop in net worth and (2) an unexpected increase in the interest rate on borrowing. The shocks are faced by households in a life-cycle consumption-savings model and the costs are measured in terms of annual consumption. In general, for empirically plausible shocks, the results show that net worth shocks are substantially costlier than interest rate shocks. The costs of the shocks ...
Economic Quarterly , Volume 97 , Issue 4Q , Pages 431-450

Journal Article
Land of Opportunity: Economic Mobility in the United States

Authors Jessie Romero and Kartik Athreya interpret data that suggest economic mobility has decreased in recent years. Many factors contribute to mobility, but for most people advancement depends on opportunities to obtain human capital---opportunities that are not as good for children in poor families. Initiatives that focus on early childhood education seem to yield high returns on investment. Their feasibility on a large scale is unknown, but they may have the potential to help the United States achieve a more inclusive prosperity.
Economic Quarterly , Issue 2Q , Pages 169-191

Working Paper
Household Financial Distress and the Burden of ‘Aggregate’ Shocks

In this paper we show that household-level financial distress (FD) varies greatly and can increase vulnerability to economic shocks. To do this, we establish three facts: (i) regions in the United States vary significantly in their “FD-intensity,” measured either by how much additional credit households can access or how delinquent they are on debts, (ii) shocks that are typically viewed as “aggregate” in nature hit geographic areas quite differently, and (iii) FD is an economic “pre-existing condition”: the share of an aggregate shock borne by a region is positively correlated ...
Research Working Paper , Paper RWP 20-13

Journal Article
Earned income tax credit recipients: income, marginal tax rates, wealth, and credit constraints

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has evolved into the largest anti-poverty program in the United States by providing tax credits for low and moderate income working families. In this paper, we describe the characteristics of EITC recipients at various ages using Current Population Survey data. In addition, we discuss the relevance of the EITC in affecting marginal income tax rates in the United States and discuss the effects of the EITC on household labor supply decisions. Lastly, using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances, we estimate wealth distributions for EITC recipients and ...
Economic Quarterly , Volume 96 , Issue 3Q , Pages 229-258

Working Paper
The supply of college-educated workers: the roles of college premia, college costs, and risk

Despite a large measured college premium, roughly one-third of all high-school graduates currently do not enroll in any form of college. Moreover, while recent increases in the premium have been accompanied by increases in enrollment, college attainment has remained flat. Our paper studies the roles played by college premia, college costs, and risk, ceteris paribus, for college enrollment and attainment in a simple quantitative model of risky college investment. Our results suggest that most U.S. high-school completers are currently inframarginal with respect to the college premium. We find, ...
Working Paper , Paper 13-02

Working Paper
Household Financial Distress and the Burden of 'Aggregate' Shocks

The goal of this paper is to show that household-level financial distress (FD) varies greatly, meaning there is unequal exposure to macroeconomic risk, and that FD can increase macroeconomic vulnerability. To do this, we first establish three facts: (i) regions in the U.S. vary significantly in their "FD-intensity," measured either by how much additional credit households therein can access, or in how delinquent they typically are on debts, (ii) shocks that are typically viewed as "aggregate" in nature hit geographic areas quite differently, and (iii) FD is an economic "pre-existing ...
Working Paper , Paper 20-12

FILTER BY year

FILTER BY Content Type

Journal Article 35 items

Working Paper 30 items

Briefing 13 items

Report 2 items

Speech 2 items

Discussion Paper 1 items

show more (1)

FILTER BY Jel Classification

E21 18 items

E44 14 items

G11 13 items

D31 10 items

D58 9 items

G21 9 items

show more (18)

FILTER BY Keywords

Bankruptcy 24 items

Financial Distress 18 items

Consumption 10 items

Delinquency 10 items

credit card debt 9 items

Foreclosure 8 items

show more (129)

PREVIOUS / NEXT