This article reviews the literature on international comparative household finance. It presents
summary statistics on household balance sheets for 13 developed countries and uses these …

Purpose The purpose of this literature review paper is to define consumer finance, describe
the scope of consumer finance and discuss its future research directions …

Causal evidence on microcredit impacts informs theory, practice, and debates about its
effectiveness as a development tool. The six randomized evaluations in this volume use a …

WINNER of the BISA IPEG Book Prize 2015 http://www. bisa-ipeg. org/ipeg-book-prize-2015-
winner-announced/Under the rubric of 'financial inclusion', lending to the poor–in both the …

Academics' view of the benefits of finance vastly exceeds societal perception. This
dissonance is at least partly explained by an underappreciation by academia of how, without …

This lecture considers the case for consumer financial regulation in an environment where
many households lack the knowledge to manage their financial affairs effectively. The …

Using geographic differences in the availability of payday loans, I estimate the real effects of
credit access among low-income households. Payday loans are small, high interest rate …

Expanding access to commercial credit is a key ingredient of financial development
strategies. There is less consensus on whether expanding access to consumer credit helps …

The recent financial crisis has led many to question how well businesses deliver services
and how well regulatory institutions address problems in consumer financial markets. This …

Household financial decisions are complex, interdependent, and heterogeneous, and
central to the functioning of the financial system. We present an overview of the rapidly …