Search Results
Journal Article
Breaching the \\"Buckskin Curtain\\"
Working Paper
The role of race in mortgage lending: revisiting the Boston Fed study
This paper reexamines claims that non-economic discrimination persists in mortgage loan origination decisions. I find that racial differences in outcomes do exist, as minorities fare worse regarding debt-to-income requirements but better for loan-to-value requirements. Overall, significant racial differentials exist only for ``marginal'' applicants and are not present for those with higher incomes or those with no credit problems. Thus, the claim that non-economic discrimination is a general phenomenon is refuted. Further, I can say little regarding the existence of discrimination among ...
Working Paper
Credit rationing, bankruptcy cost, and the optimal debt contract for small business
An examination of whether the costly random verification scheme affects the optimal debt contract for small business. It finds, contrary to Townsend (1979) and Williamson (1986, 1987), that the standard debt contract is the optimal debt contract with the costly random verification scheme.
Journal Article
Workshops spotlight women's access to credit and capital issues
Working Paper
Credit card redlining revisited
Using a proprietary dataset of credit bureau records, Cohen-Cole (2008) finds that banks set credit limits on revolving accounts based in part on the racial composition of the neighborhood in which each borrower resides. This paper evaluates the evidence presented in that working paper using the same proprietary database of credit bureau records. The replication effort presented in this paper suggests that decisions about how to calculate the variables used in that study may have resulted in the unnecessary exclusion of one-fifth of available observations from the estimation samples and may ...
Journal Article
The fair lending laws and their enforcement
Journal Article
Errors in variables and lending discrimination
Discussion Paper
Problems in applying discriminant analysis in credit scoring models
Discussion Paper
Do we still need the Equal Credit Opportunity Act?
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) prohibits discrimination in any aspect of a credit transaction based on sex, marital status, race, ethnicity, age, or other specified factors. Regulation B implementing the ECOA, a applied by the courts, requires that financial institutions challenged on the basis that a policy or practice has a disparate impact on a protected class must demonstrate that such a policy or practices is related to creditworthiness and is justified by a legitimate and necessary business objective. Certain factors that lenders may use in their decisions regarding ...