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Journal Article
Banking Trends: Measuring Cov-Lite Right
More business loans today lack traditional covenants governing borrowers. Does that leave banks with fewer tools to ward off default?
Journal Article
Breakthroughs in CDFI Capital Access
For a long time, community development financial institutions (CDFIs) have wanted to raise larger amounts of capital in order to make more loans and have greater social impact. A significant step in that quest was two California CDFIs being issued Standard and Poor?s (S&P) ratings in April 2015. Two other important moves to raise capital are seven CDFI intermediaries raising $525 million through the CDFI Fund?s CDFI Bond Guarantee Program (BGP) and 35 nondepository CDFIs becoming members of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) system. This article explores each of these developments.
Discussion Paper
Credit, Income, and Inequality
Access to credit plays a central role in shaping economic opportunities of households and businesses. Access to credit also plays a crucial role in helping an economy successfully exit from the pandemic doldrums. The ability to get a loan may allow individuals to purchase a home, invest in education and training, or start and then expand a business. Hence access to credit has important implications for upward mobility and potentially also for inequality. Adverse selection and moral hazard problems due to asymmetric information between lenders and borrowers affect credit availability. Because ...
Journal Article
Measuring Cov-Lite Right
More business loans today lack traditional covenants governing borrowers. Does that leave banks with fewer tools to ward off default?
Report
Credit and Income Inequality
How does credit access for small business owners affect income inequality? A bank’s cutoff rule, employed in the decision to grant loans and based on applicants’ credit scores, provides us with the exogenous variation needed to answer this question. Analyzing uniquely detailed loan application data, we find that application acceptance increases recipients’ income five years later by more than 10 percent compared to denied applicants. This effect is mostly driven by upward mobility of poor individuals, especially if credit-constrained, thereby reducing income inequality among those who ...
Journal Article
Understanding CDFI Financial Data: A Primer for New Investors
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) are gaining broader recognition as effective conduits of capital to underserved communities. As a result of the diversity of CDFI business models and their unique approach to blending different capital sources, these mission-driven capital providers have varied and often complex financial structures, and their financial statements can be difficult to understand for those not familiar with the sector. As interest in the sector from prospective investors has grown, so too has the need for broader understanding of how to assess CDFI financial ...