Screening on Loan Terms: Evidence from Maturity Choice in Consumer Credit
55 Pages Posted: 5 Feb 2018 Last revised: 29 Apr 2020
There are 2 versions of this paper
Screening on Loan Terms: Evidence from Maturity Choice in Consumer Credit
Date Written: 2018-01-31
Abstract
We exploit a natural experiment in the largest online consumer lending platform to provide the first evidence that loan terms, in particular maturity choice, can be used to screen borrowers based on their private information. We compare two groups of observationally equivalent borrowers who took identical unsecured 36-month loans; for only one of the groups, a 60-month loan was also available. When a long-maturity option is available, fewer borrowers take the short-term loan, and those who do default less. Additional findings suggest borrowers self-select on private information about their future ability to repay.
Keywords: Screening, Adverse Selection, Loan Maturity, Consumer Credit
JEL Classification: D14, D82
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation