Search Results
Conference Paper
Householder response to the earned income tax credit: path of sustenance or road to asset building
This study seeks to gain a more complete picture about how the Earned Income Tax Credit program influences consumer expenditure and saving decisions. Based on survey data collected from over 18,000 taxpayers participating at the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites administered by the Community Food Resource Center, a nonprofit organization in New York City, we find that a fairly large proportion of lower-income taxpayers expect to use the majority of their refund for the purpose of paying debt and other more immediate expenses. Even so, almost 11 percent of these taxpayers reported that ...
Discussion Paper
Prepaid cards: an important innovation in financial services
This paper describes the characteristics of closed-system and open-system prepaid cards. Of particular interest is a class of open-system programs that offer a set of features similar to conventional deposit accounts using card-based payment applications. The benefits that open-system prepaid cards offer for consumers, providers, and issuing banks contribute to the increased adoption of these payment applications. Using these cards, consumers can pay bills, make purchases, and get cash from ATM networks. At the same time, consumers who hold prepaid cards need not secure a traditional banking ...
Journal Article
The relationship between Hispanic residential location and homeownership
This article asks two basic questions. First, is homeownership more or less likely for Hispanics who choose to reside in an ethnic location; and second, is the location decision jointly or endogenously made with the homeownership decision? The findings suggest that, indeed, the location and homeownership decisions are jointly made. Furthermore, the decision to reside in a Hispanic enclave has a positive, significant influence on the likelihood of owning a home.
Discussion Paper
Savings account ownership during the great recession
Journal Article
Small business finance in two Chicago minority neighborhoods
The authors use survey data to measure the use of formal and informal sources of financing by owners of small businesses in two ethnic neighborhoods. The authors find substantial differences across ethnic groups in the amount of start-up funding obtained and in the use of trade credit.
Discussion Paper
Delivery of financial literacy programs
A critical challenge faced by educators, community leaders and policy makers is to bring financial literacy and consumer education effectively to their constituencies. Based on the qualitative evidence gleaned from focus groups, we take a pragmatic approach in proposing ways to deliver financial literacy programs to adults. This article makes several suggestions for implementing financial literacy programs, from outlining important financial literacy and consumer education topics to discussing the logistics of using various method of outreach activities.
Working Paper
Tenure choice with location selection: the case of Hispanic neighborhoods in Chicago
A notable feature of immigration into the U.S. is the high degree of spatial concentration of different immigrant groups. We ask the question whether residing in areas with a large proportion of a co-ethnic group influence the decision to own a home for Hispanics in the Chicago Metropolitan area. The results show that Hispanics choose to live in Hispanic enclaves based on relatively homogeneous characteristics such as recent migration, less English language fluency, and lower income. More years in the U.S., higher education attainment and English language fluency remain strong predictors of ...
Working Paper
The importance of check-cashing businesses to the unbanked: racial/ethnic differences
The roughly 9.5 percent of all U.S. families that are without some type of transaction account (unbanked) are disproportionately represented by minorities. The unbanked often must rely on alternative ways to carry out basic financial transactions such as cashing payroll checks and paying bills. This study analyzes unique survey data and finds that a consumer's decision to patronize check-cashing businesses is jointly made with the decision to be unbanked. For the unbanked, these businesses are an important source for financial services. Attributes that contribute to these decisions, however, ...