Towards a balanced contribution of household credit to the economy. CEPS-ECRI Task Force Report, May 2015

While policy-makers are creating conditions to strengthen recovery, the debate on the role that retail finance should play in this respect focuses on corporate loans rather than on household credit. The improvement of financing conditions for firms in order to support further investment spending is certainly essential to ensuring sustainable growth. However, a significant part of EU growth will depend on the behaviour of households and on their ability to secure funding for their consumption and investment. It is therefore essential to place further emphasis on the different options available to stimulate household credit, in particular consumer loans. Nevertheless, in order to avoid past mistakes, regulators should continue to develop a framework where consumer loans (and by extension household credit) contributes to the economy in a balanced way. To achieve this, five main issues need to be addressed further.

A Convergence Process in Household Credit in Central and Eastern Europe. ECRI Commentary No. 16, 30 October 2015

The liberalisation of Eastern Europe’s market during the 1990s and the 2004 EU enlargement have had a great impact on the economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Indeed, prior to these events, the financial system and household credit markets in CEE were underdeveloped. Nonetheless, it appeared to numerous economists that the development of the CEE financial system and credit markets was following an intensely positive trend, raising the question of sustainability. Many variables impact the level and growth rate of credit; several economists point out that a convergence process might be one of the most important. Using a descriptive statistics approach, it seems likely that a convergence process began during the 1990s, when the CEE countries opened their economies. However, it also seems that the main driver of this household credit convergence process is the GDP per capita convergence process. Indeed, credit to households and GDP per capita have followed broadly similar tendencies over the last 20 years and it has been shown in the literature that they appear to influence each other. The consistency of this potential convergence process is also confirmed by the breakdown of household credit by type and maturity. There is a tendency towards similar household credit markets in Europe. However, it seems that this potential convergence process was slowed down by the financial crisis. Fortunately, the crisis also stabilised the share of loans in foreign currency in CEE countries. This might add more stability to credit markets in Eastern Europe.

What drives household consumption in the EU-28? ECRI Commentary No. 19, 4 December 2015

Given that final consumption of households has contributed on average to broadly 60% of EU-28 GDP since 2001, an assessment of the drivers behind its dynamics is quite timely in a context of gradual economic recovery. The empirical analyses presented in this ECRI Commentary, covering 19 of the EU-28 economies, suggest that disposable income of households, consumer credit markets and the developments in housing markets have had a significantly positive impact on the growth of household final consumption since 2001. On the other hand, demographic trends do not seem to have played any significant role.

Household Final Consumption in the EU: The key driver for a sustainable recovery? ECRI Commentary No. 18, 4 December 2015

This commentary finds that after four to five years of poor performance, final consumption of households is expected to recover significantly in 2015 and 2016. This is all the more important since final consumption of households was the main driver of economic growth during the 12 years preceding the financial crisis. Some obstacles still stand in the way, however, preventing a sustainable recovery in private consumption.

Household vehicle utilization: report 5, 1977 - NPTS. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics Division, Washington, D.C.

Household and family characteristics, March 1984.

"Prepared by Steve W. Rawlings"--Verso t.p.

National Household Education Survey of 1995 : adult education data file user's manual /

Mode of access: Internet.

The development and implementation of a new data collection instrument for the 1994 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse /

"April 1996"--T.p. verso.

Technology and labor in copper ore mining, household appliances, and water transportation industries.

"May 1993."

Household decision making : an exploratory study /

"This study is designed to gain insights into various aspects of family decision making. Specifically, the study examines the prevalance of autonomous versus joint decision making, the incidence of conflict in joint decision making, and the tactics used by individual household members in resolving conflict."

Household vehicle ownership: report 2, 1977 - NPTS. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics Division, Washington, D.C.