While reliance on human discretion is a pervasive feature of institutional design, human discretion can also introduce costly noise (Kahneman, Sibony, and Sunstein 2021). We evaluate the consequences, determinants, and trade-offs associated with discretion in high-stake decisions assessing bank...

We study the distribution of savings from mortgage refinancing across income groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between February and June 2020, the difference in savings from refinancing between high- and low-income borrowers was 10 times higher than before. This was the result of two factors:...

Lockdown policy and case disclosure during the COVID-19 pandemic can influence human behavior and health outcomes. We investigate how individuals' daily dietary patterns were affected by the lockdown policy and the case disclosure in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employing a large...

In this chapter we review the literature on financial counseling, financial literacy, and consumer decision making and look at a financial counseling/planning program in India where consumers revealed their risk appetite, future financial goals, and current assets and liabilities. The results...

Using a unique dataset matched at the individual level from two administrative sources, we examine household choices between liabilities and assess the informational content of prime and subprime credit scores in the consumer credit market. First, more specifically, we assess consumers'...

We derive the first closed-form optimal mortgage refinancing rule. The expression is derived by using the Lambert-W function to solve a tractable class of mortgage refinancing problems. We calibrate our solution and show that our quantitative results closely match those reported by researchers...

In cross-sectional data sets from ten credit markets, we find that middle-aged adults borrow at lower interest rates and pay fewer fees relative to younger and older adults. Fee and interest payments are minimized around age 53. The measured effects are not explained by observed risk...

Agents with more experience make better choices. We measure learning dynamics using a panel with four million monthly credit card statements. We study add-on fees, specifically cash advance, late payment, and overlimit fees. New credit card accounts generate fee payments of $15 per month....