discouraged borrowers (i.e., those who do not apply for loans because they believe they will be rejected) – an issue not tackled … sequential stages of the loan process are accounted for. Our conclusions are robust to the nature of the loans (i …

market competition, lending to households, and personal bankruptcy rates in the United States. We exploit the exogenous … the credit market. We document that, following deregulation, (1) overall lending increased, (2) loss rates on loans …

Payday loans are widely condemned as a “predatory debt trap.” We test that claim by researching how households in … Georgia and North Carolina have fared since those states banned payday loans in May 2004 and December 2005. Compared with … substitutes such as the bounced-check “protection” sold by credit unions and banks or loans from pawnshops.> …

to the interest rate spread between the highest- and lowest-risk borrowers. For those obtaining loans, the premium paid … probability of bankruptcy, the corresponding interest rate increase tripled for first mortgages, doubled for automobile loans and …

A large literature has examined factors leading to filing for personal bankruptcy, but little is known about household …