Estimating Determinants of Borrowing: Evidence from Greece

The purpose of this study was twofold: to examine the determinants affecting borrowing by urban households in north-eastern Greece, and to examine the amount of money borrowed by those households. The study used cross-sectional data from 2009. The empirical analysis employed was based on the estimation of a twostage Heckman model and the quantile regression model. Results indicated that young married and employees get more loans than others. Furthermore, the probability of getting a loan was higher for homeowners and credit card holders. In contrast, savings negatively affected the probability of getting a loan. It was also found that amount of loan was influenced mainly by income, homeownership and the proportion of household members working. Households that saved money held small loan amounts. Age affected the high loan amount, but the effect of homeownership was higher in the low loan amount.