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Mimetic Herding Behavior and the Decision to Strategically Default

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  • Michael Seiler
  • Mark Lane
  • David Harrison

Abstract

This study examines the herding behavior of individuals in the context of their willingness to strategically default on a mortgage based on the (falsely) observed behavior of those around them. We find that homeowners are easily persuaded to follow the herd and adopt a strategic default proclivity consistent with that of their peers. Herding behavior is stronger when a Maven, or thought leader, is involved and weaker when the person finds strategic default to be morally objectionable. Homeowners appear to herd more for informational gains rather than for social reasons, and do not herd differentially based on signal strength. In a robustness check using a sample of real estate professionals, the strong mimetic herding result continues to hold. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Seiler & Mark Lane & David Harrison, 2014. "Mimetic Herding Behavior and the Decision to Strategically Default," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 621-653, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jrefec:v:49:y:2014:i:4:p:621-653
    DOI: 10.1007/s11146-012-9386-8
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    Cited by:

    1. Seiler, Michael J., 2015. "The role of informational uncertainty in the decision to strategically default," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 49-59.
    2. Eli Beracha & Michael J. Seiler, 2015. "The Effect of Pricing Strategy on Home Selection and Transaction Prices: An Investigation of the Left-Most Digit Effect," Journal of Housing Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 147-161, January.
    3. Mark A. Lane & Michael J. Seiler & Vicky L. Seiler, 2015. "The Impact of Staging Conditions on Residential Real Estate Demand," Journal of Housing Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 21-36, January.
    4. Lingxiao Li & Erdem Ucar & Abdullah Yavas, 2022. "Social Capital and Mortgage Delinquency," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 64(3), pages 379-403, April.
    5. Do, Hung Xuan & Rösch, Daniel & Scheule, Harald, 2018. "Predicting loss severities for residential mortgage loans: A three-step selection approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 270(1), pages 246-259.
    6. Isler, Ozan & Flew, Terry & Erol, Isil & Dulleck, Uwe, 2021. "Market news and credibility cues improve house price predictions: An experiment on bounded rationality in real estate," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    7. Michael G. Bradley & Amy Crews Cutts & Wei Liu, 2015. "Strategic Mortgage Default: The Effect of Neighborhood Factors," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 43(2), pages 271-299, June.
    8. SeungHan Ro & Paul Gallimore & Sherwood Clements & Gang-Zhi Fan, 2019. "Herding Behavior among Residential Developers," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 272-294, August.
    9. Soosung Hwang & Youngha Cho & Jinho Shin, 2020. "The impact of UK household overconfidence in public information on house prices," Journal of Property Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 360-389, October.
    10. Hirota, Shinichi & Suzuki-Löffelholz, Kumi & Udagawa, Daisuke, 2020. "Does owners’ purchase price affect rent offered? Experimental evidence," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    11. Xu, Xiaoyue & Mi, Anran & Li, Xiuting & Li, Xuerong & Dong, Jichang, 2024. "Bad news travels fast: Network analysis of the Chinese housing market connectivity," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    12. Ka-Shing Cheung & Chung-Yim Yiu & Yihan Guan, 2022. "Homebuyer Purchase Decisions: Are They Anchoring to Appraisal Values or Market Prices?," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-13, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mimetic herding; Strategic mortgage default; Maven; Signal strength; C83; C93; D19; G01; G02; R20;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C83 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Survey Methods; Sampling Methods
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D19 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Other
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G02 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles
    • R20 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - General

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