Search Results
Working Paper
Amenities and the returns to human capital
A demonstration that regional differences in the returns to human capital do not necessarily imply structural differences in regional labor markets, but could be reflecting compensation for regional differences in amenities.
Working Paper
Cross-lender variation in home mortgage lending
A lender-specific analysis of differences in minority and low-income mortgage loan originations using new applicant-level data gathered under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975.
Journal Article
Information dynamics and CRA strategy
A look at how the quantity and source of information flowing to lenders can affect their credit decisions, and an argument that lenders should take advantage of the CRA provisions that allow them to address their obligations through joint-lending programs and qualified investments.
Working Paper
Identifying productivity and amenity effects in interurban wage differentials
This study focuses on the relative importance of amenity and productivity differences in determining wage differentials across urban areas. The approach developed takes advantage of the connection between land and labor market clearing conditions required for locational equilibrium of households and firms. Data on recent movers are used to estimate equilibrium wages and rents for a sample of metropolitan areas. This information is then used to identify amenity and productivity components of wages for each city in the sample. Using national estimates of the relative share of land in ...
Journal Article
Home mortgage lending by the numbers
A look at some of the issues associated with reports that minority applicants for home mortgage loans are far more likely than whites to be denied credit. The authors raise the concern that simple comparisons of denial rates are not sufficient for grasping the complexities surrounding community-oriented lending.
Journal Article
Cross-lender variation in home mortgage lending
An evaluation of the feasibility of using Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data to form quantitative measures of fair lending for use in enforcement. The authors find that cross-lender differences in minority and low-income originations primarily reflect differences in application rates, not in approval rates, and that most of the variation in lender behavior cannot be attributed to variance in applicant characteristics reported in the HMDA data or to differences in the geographic markets served by the lenders.
Conference Paper
Lender consistency in housing credit markets
Working Paper
Posted rates as signals in mortgage lending markets
A discussion of how mortgage lenders might use posted lending terms to signal both their eagerness to take new loan applications and their lending standards.
Working Paper
Accounting for racial differences in housing credit markets
A documentation of racial and neighborhood differences in home mortgage denial rates using data collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, exploring the extent to which objective lending criteria are responsible for observed differences. The authors find persistent variations in denial rates between white and minority applicants, but emphasize that the HMDA data do not contain enough relevant information to draw any firm conclusions regarding causation.
Working Paper
Interurban comparisons of the quality of life
A methodology is developed for constructing quality-of-life comparisons for metropolitan areas in which the full bundle of an area's attributes is valued, rather than the typical method of focusing on individual characteristics.