The real effects of liquidity on behavior: evidence from regulation and deregulation of credit markets

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Economics, 2002.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Zinman, Jonathan
Other Authors: Jonathan Gruber.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2005
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8171
_version_ 1826207536561258496
author Zinman, Jonathan
author2 Jonathan Gruber.
author_facet Jonathan Gruber.
Zinman, Jonathan
author_sort Zinman, Jonathan
collection MIT
description Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Economics, 2002.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T13:51:05Z
format Thesis
id mit-1721.1/8171
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
language eng
last_indexed 2024-09-23T13:51:05Z
publishDate 2005
publisher Massachusetts Institute of Technology
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/81712019-04-10T23:21:51Z The real effects of liquidity on behavior: evidence from regulation and deregulation of credit markets real effects of finance of business and household behavior: evidence from regulation and deregulation of credit markets Zinman, Jonathan Jonathan Gruber. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Economics. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Economics. Economics. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Economics, 2002. Includes bibliographical references. Economies around the world are marked by major interventions in credit markets. Institutions ranging from central banks to the Grameen Bank operate under the assumptions that credit markets are imperfect, that these imperfections can be ameliorated, and that doing so increases output. There is surprisingly little empirical support for these propositions. Chapters 1 and 2 develop evidence on related questions by exploiting changes to a major intervention in U.S. credit markets, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Using data on both banks and potential commercial borrowers, Chapter 1 develops evidence that CRA does increase credit to small businesses as intended. Chapter 2 then exploits these CRA-induced supply shocks to identify the impact of credit increases on county-level payroll and bankruptcies. There is some evidence of real benefits at plausible implied rates of return on CRA borrowing, and little suggestion of crowd-out or adverse effects on bank performance. The findings therefore appear consistent with a model where targeted credit market interventions can improve efficiency, although important questions remain. Despite a growing number of studies concluding that a substantial proportion of US households are liquidity constrained, there remains little consensus as to the quantitative importance or nature of these constraints. This paper develops a new type of evidence on the impacts of consumer credit markets on behavior by examining household-level responses to an exogenous liquidity shock. (cont.) A United States Supreme Court decision effectively deregulated bank credit card interest rates in December 1978, and I develop evidence that consumers from states with binding usury ceilings before the decision became more likely to hold bank cards after the decision, relative to their counterparts in unaffected states. The marginal cardholders appear to have characteristics widely associated with credit constraints, and to borrow frequently on their new cards. Yet there is little evidence that these cardholders exploit their newfound liquidity by shifting into higher-yielding, less liquid, or riskier assets. This finding is at odds with most models of liquidity constraints, and motivates consideration of alternative explanations for the widely observed sensitivity of consumers to liquidity. by Jonathan Zinman. Ph.D. 2005-08-24T20:56:45Z 2005-08-24T20:56:45Z 2002 2002 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8171 51909744 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 74 leaves 7696965 bytes 7696724 bytes application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Economics.
Zinman, Jonathan
The real effects of liquidity on behavior: evidence from regulation and deregulation of credit markets
title The real effects of liquidity on behavior: evidence from regulation and deregulation of credit markets
title_full The real effects of liquidity on behavior: evidence from regulation and deregulation of credit markets
title_fullStr The real effects of liquidity on behavior: evidence from regulation and deregulation of credit markets
title_full_unstemmed The real effects of liquidity on behavior: evidence from regulation and deregulation of credit markets
title_short The real effects of liquidity on behavior: evidence from regulation and deregulation of credit markets
title_sort real effects of liquidity on behavior evidence from regulation and deregulation of credit markets
topic Economics.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8171
work_keys_str_mv AT zinmanjonathan therealeffectsofliquidityonbehaviorevidencefromregulationandderegulationofcreditmarkets
AT zinmanjonathan realeffectsoffinanceofbusinessandhouseholdbehaviorevidencefromregulationandderegulationofcreditmarkets
AT zinmanjonathan realeffectsofliquidityonbehaviorevidencefromregulationandderegulationofcreditmarkets