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Financial Literacy, Present Bias and Alternative Mortgage Products

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  • John Gathergood

    () (Department of Economics, University of Nottingham)

  • Joerg Weber

    () (Department of Economics, University of Nottingham)

Abstract

Choosing a mortgage is one of the most important financial decisions made by a household. Financial innovation has given rise to more complex mortgage products with back-loaded payments, known as ‘Alternative Mortgage Products’ (AMPs), or ‘Interest-Only Mortgages’. Using a specially designed question module in a representative survey of UK mortgage holders, we investigate the effect of consumer financial sophistication on the decision to choose an AMP instead of a standard repayment mortgage. We show poor financial literacy and present bias raise the likelihood of choosing an AMP. Financially literate individuals are also more likely to choose an adjustable rate mortgage, suggesting they avoid paying the term premium of a fixed rate mortgage.

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  • John Gathergood & Joerg Weber, 2015. "Financial Literacy, Present Bias and Alternative Mortgage Products," Discussion Papers 2015-15, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    • Handle: RePEc:not:notcdx:2015-15
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    Cited by:

    1. Feng, Xiangnan & Lu, Bin & Song, Xinyuan & Ma, Shuang, 2019. "Financial literacy and household finances: A Bayesian two-part latent variable modeling approach," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 119-137.
    2. John Gathergood & Joerg Weber, 2015. "Is Poor Financial Literacy a Barrier to Home Ownership?," Discussion Papers 2015/16, University of Nottingham, Centre for Finance, Credit and Macroeconomics (CFCM).
    3. Leonardo Gambacorta & Luigi Guiso & Paolo Emilio Mistrulli & Andrea Pozzi & Anton Tsoy, 2019. "The cost of steering in financial markets: evidence from the mortgage market," BIS Working Papers 835, Bank for International Settlements.
    4. Terence J. McElvaney & Peter D. Lunn & Féidhlim P. McGowan, 2018. "Do Consumers Understand PCP Car Finance? An Experimental Investigation," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 229-255, September.
    5. Lunn, Pete & McGowan, Féidhlim & Howard, Noel, 2018. "Do some financial product features negatively affect consumer decisions? a review of evidence," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS78.
    6. Anoosheh Rostamkalaei & Allan Riding, 2020. "Immigrants, Financial Knowledge, and Financial Behavior," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 951-977, September.
    7. Runjie Xu & Chuanmin Mi & Nan Ye & Tom Marshall & Yadong Xiao & Hefan Shuai, 2020. "Risk Fluctuation Characteristics of Internet Finance: Combining Industry Characteristics with Ecological Value," Papers 2001.09798, arXiv.org.
    8. Gathergood, John & Weber, Jörg, 2017. "Financial literacy: A barrier to home ownership for the young?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 62-78.
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    18. Kovács, Kármen, 2020. "A jelen felé torzított preferenciák. A türelmetlenségből eredő fogyasztási döntések okai, megnyilvánulásai és következményei [The causes, manifestations and consequences of consumption decisions re," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 31-53.
    19. Jonathan D. Rose, 2018. "Contract Choice in the Interwar US Residential Mortgage Market," Working Paper Series WP-2018-13, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
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    21. Passmore, Stuart Wayne & von Hafften, Alexander H., 2020. "Financing affordable and sustainable homeownership with Fixed-COFI mortgages," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

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    Keywords

    mortgages; financial literacy; present bias; alternative mortgage products;

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