School of Economics 

  Invites you to a

Macroeconomics and Trade seminar presented by

Yue Hua

(University of New South Wales)

Life-cycle effects of Australian student loans
with income-contingent repayments 

Wednesday 14 June 2023

2:00pm – 3.30pm 

Level 6 Seminar Room (650)

A02 Social Sciences Building
Camperdown Campus

The University of Sydney NSW 2006

Zoom:  874 4747 9202

This paper studies the long-run effects of income-contingent repayment of student loans on individual behaviors and the aggregate economy. We focus on the case of Australia, which has the world’s first national income-contingent repayment scheme. We develop a heterogeneous-agent life-cycle model with education choice, earnings risks, borrowing constraints, and details of student loan designs. We estimate the model using individual- and household-level longitudinal data. We apply the model to evaluate counterfactual repayment designs, including reducing the minimum repayment threshold and mortgage-style repayments. Our preliminary results show the current policy design outperforms alternatives in both educational attainment and aggregate welfare.

For further information contact: Macroeconomics and Trade seminar series coordinator Dr James Graham (james.a.graham@sydney.edu.au)

For all upcoming seminars in School of Economics see Our events and Calendar