PurposeThis paper seeks to measure and characterise the extent of consumer over‐indebtedness among the European Union (EU) member states.Design/methodology/approachThe study evaluates alternative measures of over‐indebtedness on the basis of the permanent‐income/life‐cycle theories of consumption behaviour and adopts a subjective approach in identifying over‐indebted households on the basis of European household survey data. It then investigates the main characteristics of over‐indebted households.FindingsThe empirical results reveal that over‐indebtedness was a significant problem across EU member states in the mid‐1990s. Moreover, an inverse relationship emerged between the extent of the over‐indebtedness problem and the extent of consumer borrowing across EU countries.Research limitations/implicationsAnecdotal evidence seemed to suggest that some main factors behind over‐indebtedness could be “market failure” on the credit market, the existence of liquidity constraints and lack of access to formal credit markets. However, a comprehensive and rigorous investigation of the extent and determinants of over‐indebtedness can only be achieved through analysis of more extended household data sets, particularly panel data.Practical implicationsThe EU credit markets exhibited certain symptoms of “market failure”, on the one hand, and there was also need for further financial liberalisation in the Southern European countries, on the other hand.Originality/valueThe paper provides a first systematic evaluation of existing measures of consumer over‐indebtedness as well as the first EU‐wide empirical investigation of the problem. It should provide valuable information to the credit industry as well as financial regulatory bodies.

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The system-wide impacts of imperfect competition in the regional labour market are examined by means of a macro-micro simulation model (AMOS) parameterised on Scottish data. A number of theories of the operation of the regional labour market are reviewed and it is indicated how these can be operationalised within AMOS through the adoption of different labour-market closures. Two sets of simulations are performed. The first involves nominal and real wage shocks to the regional economy. In the second, a demand disturbance is introduced under various labour-market closures. The sensitivity of the results to assumptions concerning the openness of the regional economy and the flexibility of the production technology is also discussed.

In recent years considerable concern has been expressed, from within and outside the continent, about the standard of of®cial statistics in Africa. This has prompted the question of how effective the training of African statisticians has been. This paper describes ®ndings from studies of current supply and future demand for statistics training in Angola, and Zimbabwe, carried out in 1993 and 1994. Recommendations for future development of training systems are given. These include strengthening in-service training in national statistics organizations and developing regional courses for professional statisticians.