Marieke Bos is a Researcher in Financial Economics and Deputy Director of the Swedish House of Finance at the Stockholm School of Economics.
Selected Works:
”The Labor Market Effects of Credit Market Information”, Review of Financial Studies, June 2018, 31(6), 2005-2037, Editor’s Choice, Coauthors: Marieke Bos and Emily Breza. Abstract
We exploit a natural experiment to provide one of the first measurements of the causal effect of negative credit information on employment and earnings. We estimate that one additional year of negative credit information reduces employment by 3 percentage points and wage earnings by $1,000. In comparison, the decrease in credit is only one-fourth as large. Negative credit information also causes an increase in self-employment and a decrease in mobility. Further evidence suggests this cost of default is inefficiently borne by those most creditworthy among previous defaulters.
”Scarcity and Consumers’ Credit Choice”, Swedish House of Finance Research Paper No. 16-19, 2016, Coauthors: Chloe Le Coq and Peter van Santen. Submitted July 2018 Abstract
This paper documents that high-educated borrowers choose lower loan to value ratios when their budget constraints are exogenously tighter. In contrast, low-educated borrowers do not respond to temporary elevated levels of scarcity. This lack of response translates into a significantly higher probability to default and an 11.6 percent increase in borrowing cost. We show that a difference in access to liquidity and/or buffer stocks cannot explain our results. Instead a framework where the awareness of self-control problems is positively correlated with education explains why high-educated, but not low-educated, consumers choose a lower LTV as a commitment device. Our findings highlight that increased levels of scarcity risk reinforcing the conditions of poverty.
”Impulsive Consumption and Financial Wellbeing: Evidence from an Increase in the Availability of Alcohol”, NBER Working Paper No. w23211, Coauthor: Itzhak Ben-David. Revision Requested RFS Abstract
Increased availability of alcohol might harm individuals if they have time-inconsistent preferences and consume more than planned before. We study this idea by examining the credit behavior of low-income households around the expansion of the opening hours of retail liquor stores during a nationwide experiment in Sweden. Consistent with store closures serve as commitment devices, expanded operating hours led to higher alcohol consumption and greater consumer credit demand, default, and negative consequences in the labor market. Our calculation shows that the effects of alcohol consumption on indebtedness could amount to 3.2 times the expenditure on alcohol.
”Financial Distress and Suicide over the Lifecycle for Individuals with ADHD: A Population Study”, Coauthors: Theodore P. Beauchaine and Itzhak Ben-David. New! Abstract
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) exerts lifelong functional impairment, including difficulty maintaining employment, poor credit, and suicide risk. To date, however, most studies have assessed highly-selected samples, often via self-reports. Using mental health data collected from the full Swedish population (N=11.44 million) between 2002-2015 and a random sample of credit bureau data (N=189,267), we provide the first study of financial and suicide outcomes among adults with ADHD. Adjusting for education and income, those with ADHD start adulthood with normal credit demand. However, their default rates grow exponentially into middle age, resulting in diminished access to credit despite high demand. Those with ADHD who suffer marked financial distress show a fourfold higher suicide rate than others with the disorder. Prescription medication use is unassociated with improved financial behaviors.
News:
Aug. 30-31, 2018 I will present our paper: ”Impulsive Consumption and Financial Wellbeing” at the Workshop: ”New Consumption Data” in Copenhagen. See program (here)
We are organizing the European counterpart of the ”SHOWCASING WOMEN IN FINANCE” this December 18th, Among other top women Marianne Bertrand can be your discussant. Submit your paper by September 1st. Call for papers (here). Conference website here
June 15, 2018. I discussed the new FSA report ”Swedish Consumption Credit 2018” Listen to my discussion (here)
Jan. 6th 2018. We organised an AEA Session: ”Demand for Commitment Devices”, chaired by Douglas Bernheim, (Stanford), with Dean Karlan (Yale) David Laibson (Harvard), Bridget Madrian (Harvard) and Frank Schilbach (MIT) among others, where I presented our paper: ” Impulsive Consumption and Financial Wellbeing”.
Work in Progress:
”Depression and Finance”, Coauthors: Andrew Hertzberg and Andres Liberman
”Are You More than your Credit Score?” Coauthors: Emily Breza and Andres Liberman
”ADHD, Time Preferences and Financial decisions”, Coauthor: Itzhak Ben-David