Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP13318
Authors: Tarun Ramadorai; Cristian Badarinza; Vimal Balasubramaniam
Abstract: We survey the household finance landscape in emerging economies. We first present statistics on household balance sheets from official micro-surveys in countries comprising 45% of the global population: China, India, Bangladesh, Philippines, Thailand, and South Africa. We contrast these patterns with those in data from advanced economies. We then survey the nascent literature on household finance in emerging economies and discuss areas of overlap with the more well-established literature on household finance in advanced economies, as well as the large body of literature on development finance. We highlight useful directions for future research.
Keywords: household finance; real estate; development; credit; insurance; emerging economies
JEL Codes: D1; G00
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| access to financial markets (O16) | household savings behaviors (D14) |
| unique risks faced by households in emerging economies (D14) | different financial behaviors compared to those in advanced economies (F65) |
| predominance of tangible assets (G32) | historical and structural factors (B15) |
| low participation in formal debt markets (G19) | supply constraints and behavioral factors (D10) |