Financial Education courses required for high school graduation make a difference in students' future financial lives. Given that schools exercise local control, there are a variety of types of courses offered and required by US high schools. It remains unclear why and where this variation...

In this paper we estimate the income elasticity of smoking. In contrast to previous research, we address the econometric endogeneity of income as a determinant of smoking participation, cessation, and cigarette demand conditional upon participation. We use an instrumental variables (IV)...

Millions of minority homeowners are at risk of losing their homes as a result of the housing crisis due to mortgage foreclosure and home repossession. One consumer-oriented policy response to this crisis is mortgage default counseling for borrowers. This study examines the rate at which minority...

There is debate over why lenders are unwilling to modify more mortgages, ranging from structural to macroeconomic factors. This paper introduces the information problem that borrowers and lenders face and examines third party mediation as a mechanism to overcome this problem. Mediation offers...

The rising incidence and amount of student loan debt among young adults has significant implications for their economic well-being. However, students are generally provided little information on how to finance postsecondary education and how much to borrow. This paper studies how information can...