This dissertation consists of three essays that investigate the relationship between financial
intermediaries, households, and real activity. In the first chapter, Pedro Gete and I show how …

Using an instrumental variables analysis, we show that systemically important US banks
have increased their propensity to deny mortgage applications. Tighter mortgage standards …

The US mortgage market has experienced phenomenal change over the last 35 years. This
paper develops and implements a technique for assessing the impact of changes in the …

This article establishes a theoretical and empirical link between the use of aggressive
mortgage lending instruments, such as interest‐only, negative‐amortization or subprime …

This paper examines the relationship between real estate prices during the home price
boom from the late 1990s into 2005 and competition among mortgage lenders. The …

Credit policies can expand targeted lending volumes by subsidizing private credit risks, and
an expansion in targeted lending may crowd out other loans. I document that US housing …

I show how financial intermediaries affect rental housing quality and affordability by
supplying real estate investors with financing for quality improvement projects (ie …

We document the portfolio activity of federal housing agencies and provide evidence on its
impact on mortgage markets and the economy. Through a narrative analysis, we identify …

This dissertation explores the interaction between housing externalities and the behavior of
secondary mortgage market participants with a focus on private-label residential mortgage …

This paper studies how banking deregulation affects homeownership. Exploiting the US
intra-state and inter-state banking deregulations from 1980s to early 1990s, we find that an …