家庭债务杠杆与居民主观幸福感

Household Debt Leverage and Residents’Subjective Well-being

本文基于中国家庭金融调查数据,考察家庭债务杠杆对居民主观幸福感的影响及作用机制,并从债务类型、风险阈值及对特殊群体的影响效应等视角进行拓展分析。研究结果显示,家庭债务杠杆削弱了居民主观幸福感,且在克服内生性偏误和经过一系列稳健性检验之后该结论依然成立。异质性分析结果表明,家庭债务杠杆对较高学历、高收入以及低金融知识人群的主观幸福感削弱程度更强。机制检验结果显示,家庭债务杠杆主要通过流动性趋紧、损害身体健康和加剧婚姻不稳定性三个渠道削弱主观幸福感。进一步讨论发现,非住房负债和消费性负债能够缓解债务杠杆的幸福感削弱效应,而住房债务不具备这一特性;家庭债务杠杆削弱居民主观幸福感的阈值在12.13%左右;家庭债务杠杆尤其会降低财务脆弱性家庭的主观幸福感。本文的研究为提升居民幸福感提供了债务杠杆视角,对防范化解家庭金融风险具有一定的政策启示。

Exploring the theoretical basis and internal logic of household debt leverage affecting residents’sense of well-being is of practical significance for preventing and resolving major financial risks and holding the bottom line of no systemic financial risks.Based on the China Household Finance Survey(CHFS)data from 2015 to 2019,this paper empirically examines the impact of household debt leverage on residents’subjective well-being and its underlying mechanism,analyzing the heterogeneity in education,income,and financial literacy,and in the type of debt,the risk threshold,and the impact on the financially vulnerable groups.The findings reveal that household debt leverage can undermine residents’subjective well-being.This conclusion remains robust after addressing potential endogeneity and conducting robustness tests.The detrimental effects are exerted through three key channels:tightening liquidity channels,impairing physical health,and exacerbating marital instability.These are particularly pronounced among individuals with high education levels,high income,and low financial literacy.Furthermore,housing debt,non-housing debt,and consumer debt can weaken subjective well-being,and non-housing debt and consumer debt mitigate the happiness-weakening effect of household debt.However,housing debt does not exhibit this mitigating effect.The threshold at which household debt leverage reduces residents’subjective well-being is around 12.13%.This effect is particularly pronounced among financially vulnerable households,but remains non-significant among non-financially vulnerable households.Therefore,it is suggested to improve residents’subjective well-being by stabilizing household debt leverage,optimizing the efficiency of asset allocation,and focusing on financially vulnerable groups.The marginal contributions of this paper are as follows.First,the research perspective is expanded from debt level and debt size to household debt leverage.Through a series of empirical tests,it clarifies the core logic inherent in the impact of household debt leverage on residents’subjective well-being from three key channels,which enriches and supplements the existing literature.Second,it compares and analyzes the interaction of housing debt,non-housing debt,and consumer debt in the impact of household debt leverage on residents’subjective well-being,gaining insights into the impacts of different types of debt on well-being.At the same time,it clarifies the thresholds and boundaries of this impact and explores this impact among financially vulnerable households.The findings provide valuable references for the relevant departments in preventing and resolving household financial risks,grasping the boundaries of the risks,and effectively preventing household economic risks.