| dc.description.abstract | Home equity refinancing played a key role in laying the groundwork for the 2007-2008 financial crisis
(Mian and Sufi (2011)). How homeowners spend the money that they withdraw influences how vulnerable
they are to financial distress; if the funds go toward consumption instead of reinvestment, household debt
increases while assets remain stable. This in turn may have broader financial consequences as the likelihood
of mortgage default goes up. However, it is difficult to empirically identify a causal relationship between
home equity withdrawal and personal consumption. To address this, I apply an identification strategy using
municipal solid waste (MSW) data in a new context. I use two different samples: one of metropolitan
statistical areas (MSAs) across the U.S. and another of Florida counties. My results are statistically
significant and indicate a positive relationship between house prices and household consumption
expenditures, suggesting that if house prices increase by 1%, consumption contemporaneously increases
by 0.37% to 0.42%. However, I am unable to confirm a causal relationship. This leaves me to conclude that
the increases in consumption and house prices in my sample may be simultaneously driven by some latent
factor. | nb_NO |
