In this study, we test for the role of credit quality as a factor in limiting access to homeownership. While micro-level household data on wealth and income are available for assessing income- and wealth-based constraints to homeownership, lack of data on household credit ratings has precluded...

Subprime lending has grown over the past decade into a highly visible part of the United States' mortgage market. Previous studies have shown that a relatively large share of subprime lending occurs in census tracts with high concentrations of low-income and minority households, generating the...

Subprime lending in the residential mortgage market, characterized by relatively high credit risk and interest rates or fees, has developed over the past decade into a prominent segment of the market (Temkin (2000)). Recent research indicates that there is geographical concentration of subprime...

This study examines the performance of home purchase loans originated by a major depository institution in Philadelphia under a flexible lending program between 1988 and 1994. We examine long-term delinquency in relation to neighborhood housing market conditions, borrower credit history scores,...

We develop estimates of risk-based capital requirements for single-family mortgage loans held in portfolio by financial intermediaries. Our method relies on simulation of default and loss probability distributions via simulation of changes in economic variables with conditional default...

In this paper, we consider the role of statistical analysis in fair lending compliance examinations. We present a case study of an actual examination of a large mortgage lender, demonstrating how statistical techniques can be a valuable tool focusing examiner efforts to either uncover illegal...

To explain persistence of credit card interest rates at relatively high levels, Calem and Mester (AER, 1995) argued that informational barriers create switching costs for high-balance customers. As evidence, using data from the 1989 Survey of Consumer Finances, they showed that these households...

In this paper, we examine how statistical analysis is used to help conduct fair lending compliance examinations. We present a case study of an actual fair lending examination of a large mortgage lender, illustrating how statistical techniques are used to focus examiner efforts. Our case also...

In this paper, we model the dynamic portfolio choice problem facing banks, calibrate the model using empirical data from the banking industry for 1984-1993, and assess quantitatively the impact of recent regulatory developments related to bank capital. The model suggests that two aspects of the...

We show that bank branching tends to mitigate localized market power by broadening the geographic scope of competition among banks. Banking services at peripheral locations will be priced more competitively when those locales are served by branch networks. We develop a theoretical model in...