Anmerkungen:
Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments October 11, 2021 erstellt
Beschreibung:
Our paper is the first to explore the household financial implications of plasma donation. Plasma donors tend to be younger and less educated with lower incomes and credit scores; they are also more reliant on non-bank credit. We use dramatic growth in plasma centers between 2014 and 2021 to study the causal effect of the ability to donate plasma on non-bank credit. Access to a plasma donation center reduces demand (inquiries) for payday and installment loans by 6.5% and 8.1%, respectively, with larger effects (13.1% and 15.7%, respectively) on younger borrowers. Moreover, foot traffic increases by 7-10% at essential and non-essential goods establishments when a new plasma center opens nearby. Our findings suggest that households use plasma centers to smooth consumption without appealing to high-cost debt