Do Neighborhoods Affect the Credit Market Decisions of Low-Income Borrowers? Evidence from the Moving to Opportunity Experiment
利用“搬向机遇”随机实验数据，研究发现幼年时搬到低贫困区能提高信用评分和信贷使用，而成年后搬到更好社区仅减少逾期债务，且仅对自由选择社区者有效。
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.