Using the propensity to engage in extra-marital activities as a proxy for sensation seeking behavior, we show that sensation-seeking households exhibit riskier economic behavior. They are more likely to obtain a home loan and, conditional upon borrowing, they choose larger loans. Banks are at...

Using comprehensive credit bureau data, we document that consumers who borrow from marketplace lending (MPL) platforms have lower credit scores and higher default rates in the long run relative to observably similar applicants for bank loans. This underperformance of MPL borrowers is more...

We provide causal evidence that adverse capital shocks to banks affect their borrowers' performance negatively. We use an exogenous shock to the U.S. banking system during the Russian crisis of Fall 1998 to separate the effect of borrowers' demand of credit from the supply of credit by the...