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Debts of Cyprus Households: Lessons from the First Cyprus Survey of Consumer Finances

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Haliassos
  • Christis Hassapis
  • Alex Karagrigoriou
  • George Kyriacou
  • Michalis C. Michael
  • George Syrichas
Abstract
This paper describes participation of Cyprus households in various debts using data from the first (1999) Cyprus Survey of Consumer Finances. It complements our previous paper that described household participation in various types of assets (Haliassos et al., 2001). Debts considered encompass personal unsecured loans, including credit card debt, and loans secured by housing collateral, mainly mortgage debt. Findings are of policy interest, as they show the extent of household participation in various loans, and the indebtedness of various demographic groups. We document considerable popularity of credit cards as borrowing instruments despite their recent introduction, and a continuing parallel presence of antiquated forms of borrowing (informal store credits). There is surprisingly limited use by the young of mortgages, despite very high homeownership rates, and of car loans, despite high car ownership rates. We find evidence of considerable reliance on family transfers for the financing of education, home acquisition, and car purchase by the young. Particularly problematic for equality of opportunities is the limited ability of the young to take student loans and the reliance on their parents to do so in order to finance their post-secondary education. Finally, we have noted a tendency of Cyprus business owners to take out large loans from their business for personal use.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Haliassos & Christis Hassapis & Alex Karagrigoriou & George Kyriacou & Michalis C. Michael & George Syrichas, 2003. "Debts of Cyprus Households: Lessons from the First Cyprus Survey of Consumer Finances," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 4-2003, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucy:cypeua:4-2003
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    File URL: https://papers.econ.ucy.ac.cy/RePEc/papers/4-2003.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carol C. Bertaut & Michael Haliassos, 2001. "Debt Revolvers for Self Control," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 0208, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    2. Carol C. Bertaut and Michael Haliassos, 2001. "Revolvers for Self-Control," Computing in Economics and Finance 2001 193, Society for Computational Economics.
    3. Michael Haliassos & Christis Hassapis & Alex Karagrigoriou & George Kyriacou & George Syrichas & Michalis C. Michael, 2001. "Assets of Cyprus Households: Lessons from the first Cyprus Survey of Consumer Finances," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 0205, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    4. Michael Haliassos & Christis Hassapis & Alex Karagrigoriou & George Kyriacou & George Syrichas & Michalis C. Michael, 2001. "Assets of Cyprus Households: Lessons from the first Cyprus Survey of Consumer Finances," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 0205, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    5. Ana M. Aizcorbe & Arthur B. Kennickell & Kevin B. Moore, 2003. "Recent changes in U.S. family finances: evidence from the 1998 and 2001 Survey of Consumer Finances," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), vol. 89(Jan), pages 1-32, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Georgia Antoniou & Christiana Argyridou & Michael Haliassos & Alex Karagrigoriou & George Kyriacou & Michalis C. Michael & Maria Papagheorgiou & George Syrichas, 2004. "Assets and Debts of Cyprus Households: Changes between the 1999 and 2002 Cyprus Surveys of Consumer Finances," Working Papers 0412, Central Bank of Cyprus.
    2. Jacobson, David & Mavrikiou, Petroula M. & Minas, Christos, 2010. "Household size, income and expenditure on food: The case of Cyprus," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 319-328, April.

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