ACCI Conference 2026

Licensed payday lender operations have declined nearly 90% over the past decade in Wisconsin, even in absence of interest rate limits and relatively high limits on the maximum amount one can borrow in payday loans. Yet, Wisconsin has relatively generous income limits for food and energy assistance sans any limit limits. Considering that utilities are a common reason consumers borrow payday loans, I examine the effects of payday lender vacancy on energy assistance participation by leveraging cross-county variation in licensed payday lender vacancies by year. I employ unique administrative data on licensed payday lender branch operations in Wisconsin since 2011, which I merge to publicly available administrative data on counties’ energy assistance participation, demographics, socioeconomic characteristics, and business censuses. I preliminarily find that licensed payday lender vacancies increase energy assistance participation, although such effects are delayed. Results have policy implications for financial regulations conditional on statically generous safety net parameters.

Author(s): Melody Harvey