Using a unique dataset of credit card mailings, we show that during the recent credit boom, consumers with mediocre credit scores received more credit card solicitations than those with high credit scores. However, this relationship reversed after the financial crisis. We also nd that consumers...

How do lenders of unsecured credit use screening and contract design to mitigate the risks of information asymmetry and limited commitment in the absence of collateral? To address this question, we take advantage of a unique dataset of over 200,000 credit card mail solicitations to a...

Our analysis uses a different, unique proprietary dataset that features three frequently used credit scores for each individual. Compared with the dataset used in the CFPB report, this dataset includes more recent time periods and provides a longer historical perspective of credit score comparisons

To the best of our knowledge, statistical analysis on the relationship between income and credit scores using proper data remains scant. Using a unique proprietary data set, this note attempts to fill the gap in our understanding of this relationship

While a rapidly growing body of research underscores the influence of social capital on financial decisions and economic developments, objective data-based measurements of social capital are lacking. We introduce average credit scores as an indicator of a community's social capital and present...

We document a significant relationship between subprime auto credit and road safety, with a one-standard-deviation increase in originations of such loans in a county being associated with a 5 percent increase in fatal crashes. The results are robust at various geographical levels and hold for...

Investments in stocks earn a substantially higher return than investment in safer assets in the long run, even after adjusting for risks in the stock market. However, not all households own stocks (Mankiw and Zeldes, 1991), and the share of U.S. households that invest in stocks has been much...