The paper solves a puzzle related to unsecured credit and the use of credit scores. With credit scores increasingly present in credit decisions, and with the increased use of credit cards, especially in categories at risk of large negative health shocks, asymmetry of information between banks...

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...

We propose a new approach to studying the pass-through of credit expansion policies that focuses on frictions, such as asymmetric information, that arise in the interaction between banks and borrowers. We decompose the effect of changes in banks' cost of funds on aggregate borrowing into the...