Consumer Finance
Our Consumer Finance Institute researches how people earn, spend, save, and invest, as well as how credit markets and payment systems affect the economy. Our goal is to foster a healthy consumer sector, a stable financial system, and a resilient regional and national economy.
Brief
Is Household Financial Health Improving?
In this CFI Research Brief, we use anonymized credit report data on consumer delinquency to assess the recent trajectory of households' financial health.
Working Paper
Time-Consistent Individuals, Time-Inconsistent Households
WP 26-20 – I model financial decision-making for multiperson households where members care for each other but make independent decisions. I show that the household saves less than optimal. Separate savings accounts may limit the undersaving problem.
Report
Do Recent Auto Loan Delinquency Rates Overstate Borrower Distress?
Headlines about record-high auto loan delinquencies paint a worrying picture of American consumers under increasing financial strain. But how much of that picture reflects a genuine increase in distress — and how much reflects how we measure it?
Working Paper
Temporal Focal Points and Economic Outcomes: Evidence from U.S. Mortgage Lending
WP 26-18 – Temporal focal points shape high-stakes economic outcomes. We investigate this proposition in the U.S. mortgage market by documenting novel within-month patterns in lending.
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Lender File
31 Jul ’25
The HMDA Lender File includes characteristics of firms receiving mortgage applications and originating loans. The data set enables users to connect HMDA filers to their parent organizations and compare a filer’s lending over time.
Working Paper
Building Credit Histories
WP 26-17 – If a credit history is necessary to get credit, and credit is needed to build a credit history, where does this leave new borrowers? This paper explores how lenders may look beyond repayment history to give new borrowers access to credit.