Abiotic stresses such as droughts and floods significantly constrain rice production in India. New stress-tolerant technologies have the potential to reduce yield variability and help insulate farmers from the risks posed by these hazards. This study aims to explore the potential adoption of...

This paper analyzes the role of uncertainty in a multi-sector housing model with financial frictions. We include time varying uncertainty (i.e. risk shocks) in the technology shocks that affect housing production. The analysis demonstrates that risk shocks to the housing production sector are a...

We expand the debate on incentives embedded in the originate-to-distribute lending model by presenting evidence on the placement of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) with mutual funds. We do so by capitalizing on a unique testing platform encompassing institutional holdings of private-label MBS...

The desire of risk-averse households to hedge rent risk is thought to increase home ownership and prices. While evidence for the ownership implication is compelling, support for the price effect is mixed. We show that an important reason is search frictions. Rent risk reduces outside options,...

Tests of the dividend discount model (DDM) applied to housing have studied the trade-off between the capitalization rate (CAP rate) and subsequent house price appreciation. Even allowing for attenuation bias because of actual appreciation does not equal expected appreciation, evidence for the...

We expand the debate on incentives embedded in the originate-to-distribute lending model by presenting evidence on the placement of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) with mutual funds. We do so by capitalizing on a unique testing platform encompassing institutional holdings of private-label MBS...

A feature of last decade’s mortgage crisis was that the credit risk of borrowers was not accurately priced into their mortgages. For example, the increased risk of delinquency was not associated with a higher interest rate. I confirm this belief by using a measure of earnings risk, a major...