The Effect of Consumer Credit on Economic Growth:a Comparative Analysis based on Beijing and National Data

This article is aimed to explore the effect of consumer credit on economic growth. The empirical results are derived using Beijing and national quarterly data since 2007 and annual data during 1998 and 2009 respectively,with which comparative analysis is carried out. It is shown that consumer credit imposes stronger effect on economic growth in recent years. However,especially in Beijing case,there exists remarkable difference between the effect of short-term and long-term consumer credit. Based on the above results,this article discusses the mechanism through which consumer credit drives economic growth. The article concludes by putting forward policy suggestions on the development of consumer credit market in the future.