Using a sample of 26,892 rate quotes on home purchase loan applications, the current paper investigates interstate variation in residential mortgage interest rates. More specifically, we find posted rate quotes by lenders are directly related to measures of foreclosure process risk including the...

This study examines the herding behavior of individuals in the context of their willingness to strategically default on a mortgage based on the (falsely) observed behavior of those around them. We find that homeowners are easily persuaded to follow the herd and adopt a strategic default...

Using a large sample of monthly gross flows from 1997 to 2003, we uncover several previously undocumented regularities in investor behavior. First, investor purchases and sales produce fund-level gross flows that are highly persistent. Persistence in fund flows dominates performance as a...

Mutual fund advisors make portfolio decisions for their funds on a daily basis. We examine the location of those portfolio decision rights on two dimensions. First, we consider the geographic location of the decision rights. Second, we consider whether the decision rights remain with an advisor...

Using a large sample of monthly gross flows from 1997 to 2003, we uncover several previously undocumented regularities in investor behavior. First investor purchases and sales produce fund-level gross flows that are highly persistent. Persistence in fund flows dominates performance as a...

The non-linear relation between mutual fund performance and subsequent net flows is well documented in the mutual fund literature. The extant literature generally ascribes the absence of net outflows in the face of poor performance to inactivity by existing fund investors (i.e., they do not to...

Households that contemplate moving to different cities or trading up/down in the future are exposed to substantial housing risk. In order to mitigate this risk, we derive optimal portfolios using CME housing futures. Housing investment risk is hedged by selling housing futures amounting to the...