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How Do Individuals Repay Their Debt? The Balance-Matching Heuristic

Author

Listed:
  • John Gathergood
  • Neale Mahoney
  • Neil Stewart
  • Joerg Weber

Abstract

We study how individuals repay their debt using linked data on multiple credit cards. Repayments are not allocated to the higher interest rate card, which would minimize the cost of borrowing. Moreover, the degree of misallocation is invariant to the economic stakes, which is inconsistent with optimization frictions. Instead, we show that repayments are consistent with a balance-matching heuristic under which the share of repayments on each card is matched to the share of balances on each card. Balance matching captures more than half of the predictable variation in repayments and is highly persistent within individuals over time.

Suggested Citation

  • John Gathergood & Neale Mahoney & Neil Stewart & Joerg Weber, 2017. "How Do Individuals Repay Their Debt? The Balance-Matching Heuristic," NBER Working Papers 24161, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24161
    Note: CF IO LS PE
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • G02 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General

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