As a result of sustained housing market fragility, a growing number of borrowers are walking away from their underwater homes even though they have the ability to pay. Despite recent advances, questions remain about what influences this decision. In this paper, we use survey data to examine the...

How does the large market for credit score improvement products affect consumers and market efficiency? For consumers, we use a randomized encouragement design on a standard credit builder loan (CBL) and find null average effects on scores. But a generalized random forest algorithm finds...

Prize-linked programs are becoming increasingly popular, yet little evidence exists regarding their efficacy. I conduct the first field experiment examining whether prize-linked incentives can be effective in promoting debt reduction by randomizing access among 6,907 borrowers in a debt...

Many Americans save too little, leaving them vulnerable to unexpected financial shocks. Finding ways to help Americans develop emergency savings funds could greatly improve welfare. A wealth of previous literature has demonstrated the central roles played by patience and self-control in...

Trust plays an important role in financial decision-making, particularly regarding financial advice. In fact, investors cite “trust” as the most important determinant in seeking a financial service professional for advice (Hung et al., 2010). In this paper, we explore the relationships...

Americans are increasingly being asked to take responsibility for their own retirement security. However, many people are ill-equipped to make financial decisions and have turned to professional financial advisors for help. While financial advisors often provide valuable services, it can be...

We administered the FINRA Foundation’s National Financial Capability Study questionnaire to members of the RAND American Life Panel (ALP) in 2012 and 2018. Using this unique, longitudinal data set, we investigate the evolution of financial literacy over time and shed light on the causal effect...

How do price commitments impact the amount of information firms acquire about potential customers? We examine this question in the context of a competitive market. Contracts are incomplete because the amount of information firms acquire about applicants during the screening process cannot be...

There is little evidence on how the large market for credit score improvement products affects consumers or credit market efficiency. A randomized encouragement design on a standard credit builder loan (CBL) identifies null average effects on whether consumers have a credit score and the score...