Buy Today, Pay Tomorrow: Formal Credit Supply and Domestic Electrical and Electronic Goods Consumption in São Paulo’s Urban Periphery

João Sette Whitaker Ferreira
Docente da FAUUSP, autor de diversos livros e ex-secretário de Habitação do Município de São Paulo. LabHab FAUUSP – whitaker@usp.br

Kauê Lopes dos Santos
Professor do Instituto de Geociências da UNICAMP e pesquisador visitante na London School of Economics and Political Science. UNICAMP – kauels@unicamp.br

Texto enviado para a revista Society for Latin American Studies. Bulletin of Latin American Research Vol. 42, No. 1. 2021

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, expansion of the formal credit supply in Brazil has promoted the ‘financial inclusion’ of the low-income population, especially through instalment plans offered by large retail chains. This article aims to analyse the impacts of formal credit availability on the consumption of electrical and electronic goods by residents of Jardim Helena, a neighbourhood in São Paulo’s periphery. Through the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, this study reveals how the instalment plan can stimulate consumption among the low-income population, with a significant impact on household budgets, raising the risk of indebtedness.