Call for Papers: HOUSEHOLD INDEBTEDNESS, HOUSE PRICES AND THE ECONOMY

                          CALL FOR PAPERS

        HOUSEHOLD INDEBTEDNESS, HOUSE PRICES AND THE ECONOMY

                       September 19-20, 2008
                Sveriges Riksbank, Stockholm, Sweden


     Sveriges Riksbank, the Swedish Central Bank, is pleased to
     announce that it will host a workshop on Household
     Indebtedness, House Prices and the Economy.


     AIM:

     In the last few decades, house prices have undergone major
     medium-run fluctuations in many industrialized economies.
     Boom-bust cycles in house prices, coupled with a
     substantial increase in household indebtedness, have drawn
     the attention of policymakers and academics towards the
     developments in housing markets and their impact on
     economic activity and financial stability. In that
     context, the aim of this workshop is to discuss recent
     swings in house prices and the increasing indebtedness of
     households, and their impact on the economy. We are
     interested both in theoretical and empirical work
     addressing the following topics: (i) household finance and
     the determinants of household indebtedness, (ii) credit
     markets, institutional change, and household indebtedness,
     (iii) household indebtedness, housing markets, and their
     implications for economic activity and financial stability,
     (iv) the impact of household indebtedness and housing
     markets on monetary policy. To address the last topic, we
     also plan for a panel session with representatives from
     academia as well as policymakers.


     FORMAT:

     Papers will be presented in plenary presentations of 40
     minutes, followed by 10 minutes of comments by a discussant
     and an additional 10 minute plenary discussion.
     Approximately 11 papers will be presented, and overall
     participation at the workshop will be limited to 40 people.
     Lunch and a workshop dinner will be provided. Participation
     in the conference is confirmed by Nobuhiro Kiyotaki and
     Jose-Victor Rios-Rull.


     EXPENSES:

     Sveriges Riksbank will reimburse economy-class travel
     expenses and cover accommodation for paper presenters and
     discussants.


     PAPER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE:

     A PDF file containing the paper should be e-mailed to the
     organizing committee, at:

     Email:       MAILTO:lena.lofgren@riksbank.se

     by April 28th, 2008. Authors will be notified by June 16th,
     2008. Authors submitting papers should also indicate
     whether they are willing to act as discussants.


     ORGANIZATION:

     The workshop program and other information about the
     conference will be posted on the Riksbank website -
     http://www.riksbank.com/workshop - as they become available.
     The organizing committee consists of Franklin Allen, Tor
     Jacobson, Daria Finocchiaro, Martin Johansson, Virginia Queijo
     von Heideken and Karl Walentin. Questions can be directed to:

     Email:       MAILTO:lena.lofgren@riksbank.se
Posted 2/2/08