We examine the effect of direct mail (commonly referred to as junk mail) advertising on individual financial decisions by studying consumer choice of home equity debt contracts. Consistent with the theoretical predictions, we find that financial variables underlying the relative pricing of debt...

Using a unique data set of loan applications by small businesses, we study the determinants of loan transactions focusing on the respective roles of private information and borrower proximity. Although credit availability and the offered loan rate decrease in the bank-borrower distance and...

We analyze more than 108,000 home equity loans and lines of credits to study the role of information asymmetry in a credit market where borrowers face a menu of contract options and a lender uses a counteroffer to further mitigate contract frictions. Our results reveal that a less credit-worthy...

Given the growth in home equity lending during the 1990s, it is imperative that lenders and regulators understand the risks associated with this segment of the residential mortgage market. This paper addresses this need through analysis of a unique panel data set of over 135,000 homeowners with...

Bank lending is an important source of funding for firms. Most loans are in the form of credit lines. Empirical studies of line demand have been complicated by their use of data on publicly traded firms, which have a wide menu of financing options. We avoid this problem by using a unique...

In this paper, we empirically assess the importance of various credit risk characteristics in determining default behavior of more than 31,000 small business loans and lines both under $100K and between $100K-$250K. Overall, our results indicate that the main drivers of small business default...

In this paper, we examine how homestead, personal property, and garnishment laws affect consumer's default behavior by focusing on the credit card market. After controlling for credit supply and quot;shock effectquot; variables we investigate whether consumer propensity for formal and informal...

In this paper, we examine how county unemployment rates affect consumers' delinquency and bankruptcy behavior by focusing on the credit card market. In particular, after controlling for credit supply and shocks like divorce and health coverage we investigate whether consumer propensity for...