"The role of financial position on consumer indebtedness. An empirical analysis in Italy"

The present paper conducts an empirical analysis of the determinants of consumer credit debt in Italy using a sample of the Survey of Household and Wealth over the 2002-2010 period. Although a previous study has used the same survey, but on a different time period, to investigate the determinants of consumer credit debt, the current paper is the first to investigate the role of consumer financial position on consumer tendency to load up on more debt. The paper employs a basic pooled probit model in order to evaluate how the measure of the degree of individual over-indebtednes relates to the main explanatory variable which is the "Economic position" assessing whether a consumer's disposable income is sufficient to cover a month's expenses