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Working Paper
Decomposing Gender Differences in Bankcard Credit Limits
In this paper, we examine if there are gender differences in total bankcard limits by utilizing a data set that links mortgage applicant information with individual-level credit bureau data from 2006 - 2016. We document that after controlling for credit score, income, and demographic characteristics, male borrowers on average have higher total bankcard limits than female borrowers. Using a standard Kitagawa-Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, we find that 87 percent of the gap is explained by differences in the effect of observed characteristics between male and female borrowers, while ...
Working Paper
Composition-Adjusted Wage Growth: A Robust Measure from Microdata
Wage growth is a key indicator of labor market conditions, but common measures often conflate individual wage changes with shifts in workforce composition. This paper develops a composition-adjusted measure of wage growth using nonparametric decomposition and program evaluation methods. The adjusted measure tracks unadjusted growth in stable periods but diverges during disruptions: during the Covid-19 pandemic, wage growth falls from 12% to 6% after adjustment. The method accommodates rich covariates, is robust to data quality issues such as rounding, heaping and top-coding, and enables ...
Working Paper
Migration as a Vector of Economic Losses from Disaster-Affected Areas in the United States
In this paper, we infuse consideration of migration into research on economic losses from extreme weather disasters. Taking a comparative case study approach and using data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York/Equifax Consumer Credit Panel, we document the size of economic losses via migration from 23 disaster-affected areas in the United States after the most damaging hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires on record. We then employ demographic standardization and decomposition to determine if these losses primarily reflect changes in out-migration or changes in the economic resources that ...
Working Paper
Equilibrium Unemployment: The Role of Discrimination
U.S. labor markets are increasingly diverse and persistently unequal between genders, races and ethnicities, skill levels, and age groups. We use a structural model to decompose the observed differences in labor market outcomes across demographic groups in terms of underlying wedges in fundamentals. Of particular interest is the potential role of discrimination, either taste-based or statistical. Our model is a version of the Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides model extended to include a life cycle, learning by doing, a nonparticipation state, and informational frictions. The model exhibits ...
Working Paper
Decomposing Gender Differences in Bankcard Credit Limits: Evidence from Sole Mortgage Applicants
Using linked mortgage application and credit bureau data, we document the existence of unconditional and conditional gender gaps in the distribution of total credit card limits for sole mortgage applicants. We estimate that male borrowers have approximately $1,300 higher total credit card limits than female borrowers. This gap is primarily driven by a large gender gap in the right tail of the limit distribution. At the median and in the left tail of the total limit distribution, women’s limits are approximately $100 to $300 higher than men’s. Results from a Kitagawa-Oaxaca-Blinder ...