Search Results
Briefing
Redlining and U.S. Residential Mortgage Market Pricing
Does redlining have implications for mortgage pricing today? This article summarizes our research assessing long-lasting implications from the "residential security maps" developed by the Home Owners Loan Corp. in the 1930s that color/letter-coded U.S. neighborhoods. The study finds (1) that the average levels of mortgage rates and fees are modestly higher for all borrowers on the historically targeted (redlined, that is, C-coded or D-coded) side of a neighborhood color boundary; (2) that mortgage rates and fees are modestly higher for minorities on either side of the boundary; (3) that these ...
Working Paper
External governance and debt agency costs of family firms
We investigate the impact of family blockholders on the firm's debt agency costs under different investor protection environments. On one hand, families--through their undiversified investments, inter-generation presence, and reputation concerns--can mitigate debt agency costs. On the other hand, families--through their unique power position that can lead to private benefits extraction and higher bankruptcy risk--can exacerbate debt agency costs. The actual impact can go either way and what matters should be the creditors' protection environment. Using international bond issues from 1995 to ...