The equity that has accumulated in homes is one of the largest components of U.S. household wealth. In recent years, many homeowners have borrowed large amounts against that equity, frequently to finance new consumption expenditures or pay down outstanding consumer debt. In view of the growing...

The impact of borrowing constraints on homeownership has been well established in the literature. Wealth is most likely to restrict homeownership followed by credit and income. Using recent movers from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and borrowing constraint definitions commonly...

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...

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...