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Do Neighborhoods Affect the Credit Market Decisions of Low-Income Borrowers? Evidence from the Moving to Opportunity Experiment
[Asset prices under habit formation and catching up with the Joneses]

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah Miller
  • Cindy K Soo

Abstract

This paper isolates the causal impact of neighborhood environment on the credit outcomes of low-income borrowers by analyzing the participants of the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) experiment. MTO was a unique, large-scale experiment that offered families vouchers to move to better neighborhoods via randomized lottery. We find higher credit scores and use among those required to move to the lowest poverty areas as young children. For those who moved as adults, we find that better neighborhoods lead to a reduction of overdue debts and delinquencies, but only among those given unrestricted neighborhood choice.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Miller & Cindy K Soo, 2021. "Do Neighborhoods Affect the Credit Market Decisions of Low-Income Borrowers? Evidence from the Moving to Opportunity Experiment [Asset prices under habit formation and catching up with the Joneses]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(2), pages 827-863.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:34:y:2021:i:2:p:827-863.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rfs/hhaa060
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Andre, Jennifer & Braga, Breno & Martinchek, Kassandra & McKernan, Signe-Mary, 2024. "The Effects of Utility Shutoff and Eviction Moratoria during the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Use of Alternative Financial Services Loans," IZA Discussion Papers 17248, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. William N Goetzmann & Christophe Spaenjers & Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2021. "Real and Private-Value Assets [Gendered prices]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(8), pages 3497-3526.
    3. Christa N. Gibbs & Benedict Guttman-Kenney & Donghoon Lee & Scott Nelson & Wilbert Van der Klaauw & Jialan Wang, 2024. "Consumer Credit Reporting Data," Staff Reports 1114, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    4. Adriana Camacho-González & Jorge Enrique Caputo-Leyva & Fabio Sánchez-Torres, 2022. "A new beginning: The effect of the free housing program on the quality of life of beneficiary households," Documentos CEDE 20303, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    5. Fernando V. Ferreira & Maisy Wong, 2022. "Neighborhood Choice After COVID: The Role of Rents, Amenities, and Work-From-Home," NBER Working Papers 29960, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Shihan Xie & Victoria Wenxin Xie & Xu Zhang, 2024. "Extreme Weather and Low-Income Household Finance: Evidence from Payday Loans," Staff Working Papers 24-1, Bank of Canada.
    7. Pattison, Nathaniel & Millimet, Daniel L., 2023. "A Tale of Two Bankruptcies: Geographic Differences in Bankruptcy Chapter Choice," IZA Discussion Papers 16105, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
    • G41 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets

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