Beyond the Transaction: Banks and Mortgage Default of Low-Income Homebuyers
研究发现，低收入购房者从当地银行分行获得贷款后，违约或拖欠的可能性显著低于其他银行或非银行贷款人，这支持了软信息在贷款绩效中的作用。
We evaluate the effects of the lending institution and soft information on mortgage loan performance for low-income homebuyers. We find that even after controlling for the propensity of a borrower to get a loan from a local bank based on observable characteristics, those who receive a loan from a local bank branch are significantly less likely to become delinquent or default than other bank or nonbank borrowers, consistent with an unobserved information effect. These effects are most pronounced for loans originated to borrowers with marginal credit, where soft information may have a stronger effect. These findings support previous research on information-driven lending, and provide additional explanation for observed differences in mortgage loan performance between bank and nonbank lenders.