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标题：Household risk management and actual mortgage choice in the euro area
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作者：Michael Ehrmann ; Michael Ziegelmeyer
期刊名称：Euro Area Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics
印刷版ISSN：1830-3420
电子版ISSN：1830-3439
出版年度：2014
出版社：European Central Bank
摘要：Mortgages constitute the largest part of household debt. An essential choice when taking out amortgage is between fixed-interest-rate mortgages (FRMs) and adjustable-interest-rate mortgages(ARMs). However, so far, no comprehensive cross-country study has analyzed what determineshousehold demand for mortgage types, a task that this paper takes up using new data for the euroarea. Our results support the hypothesis of Campbell and Cocco (2003) that the decision is bestdescribed as one of household risk management: income volatility reduces the take-out of ARMs,while increasing duration and relative size of the mortgages increase it. Controlling for other supplyfactors through country fixed effects, loan pricing also matters, as expected, with ARMs becomingmore attractive when yield spreads rise. The paper also conducts a simulation exercise to identifyhow the easing of monetary policy during the financial crisis affected mortgage holders. It showsthat the resulting reduction in mortgage rates produced a substantial decline in debt burdens amongmortgage-holding households, especially in countries where households have higher debt burdensand a larger share of ARMs, as well as for some disadvantaged groups of households, such as thosewith low income.
关键词：mortgage choice; fixed-rate mortgage; adjustable-rate mortgage; household finance; monetary;policy