Journal Article
The CRA and subprime lending
Office, Community Affairs (2009)
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) has been under much scrutiny amid the subprime lending bust. Critics of the CRA contend that the law pushed banking institutions to undertake high-risk mortgage lending. A Federal Reserve Board staff analysis finds that the CRA was neither a source nor driver of the housing market's collapse. In this issue, we examine the CRA and its role in the mortgage market and distinguish it from causes of the subprime failure.
Banking and Community Perspectives , Issue 1 , Pages 3-7

Working Paper
The role of the securitization process in the expansion of subprime credit
Nadauld, Taylor D.; Sherlund, Shane M. (2009)
We analyze the structure and attributes of subprime mortgage-backed securitization deals originated between 1997 and 2007. Our data set allows us to link loan-level data for over 6.7 million subprime loans to the securitization deals into which the loans were sold. We show that the securitization process, including the assignment of credit ratings, provided incentives for securitizing banks to purchase loans of poor credit quality in areas with high rates of house price appreciation. Increased demand from the secondary mortgage market for these types of loans appears to have facilitated ...
Finance and Economics Discussion Series , Paper 2009-28

Working Paper
\"Cream-skimming\" in subprime mortgage securitizations : which subprime mortgage loans were sold by depository institutions prior to the crisis of 2007?
Henderson, Christopher; Calem, Paul S.; Liles, Jonathan (2010)
Depository institutions may use information advantages along dimensions not observed or considered by outside parties to "cream-skim," meaning to transfer risk to naive, uninformed, or unconcerned investors through the sale or securitization process. This paper examines whether "cream-skimming" behavior was common practice in the subprime mortgage securitization market prior to its collapse in 2007. Using Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data merged with data on subprime loan delinquency by ZIP code, the authors examine the bank decision to sell (securitize) subprime mortgages originated in ...
Working Papers , Paper 10-8

Discussion Paper
Subprime lending over time: the role of race
Hevener, Christy Chung; Smith, Marvin M. (2010)
Analyzes the racial gap in subprime mortgages over time. The study estimates a portion of the gap that cannot be attributed to such characteristics as income, credit score, loan amount, degree of documentation, denial rate, residence in a minority tract, and debt-to-income ratio. It concludes that the unexplained portion suggests that bias in mortgage lending cannot be ruled out.
Community Affairs Discussion Paper , Paper 10-02

Speech
Importance of financial econometrics for financial innovation and financial stability: a speech for the Inaugural Conference of the Society for Financial Econometrics, New York University Stern School of Business, June 5, 2008
Plosser, Charles I. (2008-06-05)
Presented by Charles I. Plosser, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, for the Inaugural Conference of the Society for Financial Econometrics, New York University Stern School of Business, New York, NY, June 5, 2008
Speech , Paper 18