Intro -- Contents -- I. Introduction -- II. Theoretical Framework -- III. Empirical Strategy and Results -- IV. Conclusions -- Appendix I. Comparative Statics in The Model of Morris and Shin (2002) -- Appendix II. Matching Algorithms -- REFERENCES.

The recent housing bust has reignited interest in psychological theories of speculative excess (Shiller, 2007). I investigate this issue by identifying a segment of the U.S. population-evangelical protestants-that may be less prone to speculative motives, and uncover a significant negative...