We introduce a model of a rational credit card user's rather complex usage choices and develop an empirical framework to test its predictions. Employing a large national database of U.S. card accounts, we estimate how prices impact card usage and find that price effects are mostly well explained...

This paper studies the intermediation of auto loans through auto dealers using new and comprehensive data. Lenders give auto dealers discretion to price loans. The first part of our project leverages details of the contracts between lenders and dealers to demonstrate that many consumers are...

Recent regulation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and earlier regulation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development set out to improve the accuracy, clarity, comparability, and timeliness of mortgage disclosures in order to improve consumer decision-making and...

Debt collection is an important part of the consumer credit ecosystem, but has received little attention in the economics literature. Regulations on collection practices can protect consumers, but may also lead to unintended consequences if the costs of better practices are passed on to...

We exploit the principles of choice architecture to evaluate interventions in the market for reloadable prepaid cards. Participants are randomized into three card menu presentation treatments - the market status quo, a regulation-inspired reform, or an enhanced reform designed to minimize...

The revolving credit available to consumers changes substantially over the business cycle, the life cycle, and for individuals. We show that debt changes at the same time as credit, so credit utilization is remarkably stable. From ages 20–40, for example, credit card limits grow by more than...

We document and analyze price dispersion in the U.S. mortgage market. We find significant price dispersion in posted prices in the retail channel: for example, a consumer with a prime credit score and with a 20% down payment for a conforming loan might see a spread in interest rates of 50 basis...

In 2013, the FDIC and OCC issued guidance claiming that inadequate underwriting of deposit advance loans raised safety and soundness concerns. Banks quickly removed deposit advance from their small dollar credit offerings. Unless overdraft and deposit advance are perfect substitutes, the loss of...

We study the effects of interest rate ceilings on the market for automobile loans. We find that loan contracting and the organization of the loan market adjust to facilitate loans to risky borrowers. When usury restrictions bind, automobile dealers nance a greater share of their customers'...