In this paper we study whether consumers optimally choose between formal and informal credit, using a unique panel dataset with all registered information available on consumers' behavior within the Swedish alternative and mainstream credit markets. Specifically, we analyze to what extent credit...

Using panel data on individual borrowing characteristics and neighborhood income, we assess the impact of relative income on indebtedness and payment delinquencies. We find that a worsening in relative income vis-à-vis similarly aged neighbors leads to higher indebtedness, primarily due to...

Employee share ownership is growing increasingly important. This paper studies employee share ownership in an economy with one monopoly union for each firm. We modify an implicit contract model by adding dividend income to the usual wage income. Union members differ in exogenous stock endowments...

In this paper we use credit rating data from two large Swedish banks to elicit evidence on banks' loan monitoring ability. For these banks, our tests reveal that banks' credit ratings indeed include valuable private information from monitoring, as theory suggests. However, our tests also reveal...