The period 2004-2005 showed a significant increase in Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) rate spread reporting. Following the Oaxaca (1973), Blinder (1973), and Fairlie (2005) decomposition techniques, this study identifies the fraction of the increase due to the flattening of the yield curve....

This paper exploits the dramatic increase in house prices in early 2000 and the panel nature of the data to investigate the effect of home equity on charitable giving. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from 2001 to 2007, we find that a 10% increase in home equity increases a household’s...