Explaining Refinancing Decisions Using Microdata
构建了一个模型，解释利率变动、交易成本、借款人收入和房屋价值变化等因素如何影响借款人决定是否对现有贷款进行再融资，并利用微观数据验证了模型预测。
This paper develops a model which explains how mortgage‐rate movements, transactions costs, changes in borrower income and house value, personal financial opportunities and the prepayment option embedded in fixed‐rate mortgages affect a financially flexible borrower's decision to refinance an existing loan while retaining the underlying home. Broadening the focus of previous analytical work, the model explains why households with similar mortgage loans may react differently as financial market conditions change. It contains definitive empirical predictions that are supported by an analysis of a choice‐based sample of individual loan transactions. Results suggest that refinancings are motivated both by movements in the level of interest rates and by borrowers' desires to alter their capital structures in the face of changing income and housing wealth.