Working Papers

When Loss Strikes Twice: Severe Health Shocks and Financial Well-Being (with Kaveh Majlesi and Paula Roth)
Accepted at the Review of Finance
CEPR Discussion paper series no DP21169, CINCH Working Paper Series, no 2024-2, IFAU working paper 2026:11
2nd Best Paper Prize, Essen Health Conference 2024
Conferences: CEPR Conference on Economics of Longevity and Ageing, The Essen Health Conference, Uppsala Centre for Fiscal Studies Workshop, 8th Swedish Conference in Economics
Seminars: Aarhus University, Monash University, Linnaeus University, Stockholm University, Jönköping University, Lund University, The Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy (IFAU)
Coverage: VoxEU, Ekonomisk Debatt

Abstract: We study how fatal and nonfatal health shocks affect households’ ability to meet their financial obligations. We find that fatal shocks substantially increase the likelihood of default and that housing wealth plays a key role as a self-insurance mechanism. Surviving spouses who experience the largest income losses are more likely to sell their homes, and those without housing wealth face a sharply higher risk of debt collection. In the most financially vulnerable families, these shocks even generate intergenerational spillovers. In contrast, nonfatal health shocks lead to only modest increases in default risk. Taken together, our findings suggest that strengthening survivors’ benefits for households with limited resources could improve welfare across generations.

Buy Now Pay (Less) Later: Leveraging Private BNPL data in Consumer Banking (with Christine Laudenbach, Kasper Roszbach, and Talina Sondershaus)
Available at SSRN
Norges Bank Working Paper Series, no 2/2025
Conferences: NBER Summer Institute Household Finance, CEPR European Conference on Household Finance 2025, SAFE Household Finance Workshop, CEPR Endless Summer Conference of Financial Intermediation and Corporate Finance, BIS-CEPR-Gerzensee-SFI Conference on Financial Intermediation, University of Delaware and Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Fintech & Financial Institutions Conference,Knut Wicksell Conference on Crypto and Fintech
Coverage: The Economist, VoxEU, SUERF Policy Brief, Norges Bank Blog

Abstract: Because Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) credit is lightly regulated, providers collect repayment data on many customers that credit bureaus often do not capture. We study whether this information affects unsecured consumer lending using data from a Nordic bank o!ering both BNPL and consumer loans. Loan applicants whose BNPL histories are used in screening are on average substantially more likely to be approved and receive significant interest rate discounts, while the bank retains informational rents. A regression discontinuity confirms these findings. Survey evidence confirms that borrowers are largely unaware of this practice. If anything, BNPL-screened borrowers repay significantly better.

Inherited Hardship or Learned Behavior? Nature vs. Nurture in Financial Distress (with Marieke Bos, Erik Plug, Kasper Roszbach and Paula Roth)
Conferences: The European Finance Association 52nd Annual Meeting, HOFIMAR workshop at BI Norwegian Business School, 8th Swedish Conference in Economics

Abstract: Financial distress has severe negative consequences for individuals and families, yet its intergenerational persistence remains poorly understood. Using rich administrative data from Sweden, we examine whether children whose parents experience financial distress are more likely to face similar challenges themselves. Leveraging an adoption design that separates genetic from environmental influences, we find that both nature and nurture matter, but the environment in which a child is raised is more than three times as important as inherited traits in explaining financial distress. Observable characteristics, particularly low liquid assets, account for around half of the observed transmission. Our findings underscore the causal impact of family environments on financial hardship and highlight the potential of targeted policies, such as debt relief and financial education, to break the cycle of intergenerational financial distress.

Long-Term Impacts of Achievement-Based School Assignment
Available at SSRN
Conferences: IWAEE International Workshop on Applied Economics of Education, Copenhagen Education Network Workshop, Workshop on Human Capital and Public Policy

Abstract: I study the long-term impacts of a reform changing school admission criteria from proximity to grades in Swedish upper secondary education. Implemented in three municipalities covering 10% of the student population, the reform increases educational attainment and expected midlife earnings. These gains are concentrated among students in the top 25% of the grade distribution, who also experience labor income gains. These high-achieving students become more likely to attend schools effective at sending students to higher education and to have higher-performing peers. However, due to grade disparities, the reform decreased intergenerational mobility and widened the education gap between natives and immigrants.

Stablecoins and Retail Investors (with Talina Sondershaus and Anders Vilhelmsson)
Available at SSRN
Abstract: We provide novel micro-level evidence on how identified retail investors use stablecoins, using transaction-level data from a Swedish crypto platform matched to KYC information. Stablecoin users differ sharply from Bitcoin users: they are younger, lower-income, more often women, and more likely to hold another-country citizenship. Among dual citizens, stricter capital controls in the second country strongly predict stablecoin participation and USDC trading intensity. Within investors who trade both USDC and Bitcoin, USDC purchases are followed by faster withdrawals and higher balance turnover. Withdrawals are also more likely to be routed through shared, exchange-style wallets. The evidence is consistent with stablecoins being used primarily as payment instruments, especially when cross-border financial frictions are high.