Does Asymmetric Information Cause the Home Equity Bias?

Does Asymmetric Information Cause the Home Equity Bias?
Author: Claudio Bravo-Ortega
Publisher:
Total Pages: 28
Release: 2005
Genre: Home equity loans
ISBN:

"The home equity bias is one of the many puzzles existing in international finance. This puzzle is characterized by the concentration of domestic equity in any investor's portfolio, which is in contradiction with the benchmark of full diversification in a world mutual fund. Based on Admati's (1985) and Gehrig's (1993) noisy rational expectation models, Bravo-Ortega tries to explain the effect of asymmetric information in the home equity bias puzzle. While asymmetric information helps to explain the puzzle for the case of one domestic and one foreign equity, this result relies on very restrictive assumptions. Using a model with one domestic asset and two foreign assets, the author illustrates that asymmetries of information are also consistent with home equity bias reversals. One proposition generalizes these results. Simulations corroborate the main theoretical predictions of the model presented by the author. This paper is a product of the Office of the Chief Economist, Latin America and the Caribbean Region"--World Bank web site.

An Empirical Analysis of Information Asymmetry in Home Equity Lending

An Empirical Analysis of Information Asymmetry in Home Equity Lending
Author: Sumit Agarwal
Publisher:
Total Pages: 33
Release: 2015
Genre:
ISBN:

We analyze more than 74,000 home equity loans and lines of credit to study the role of information asymmetry. This credit market is characterized by borrowers who face a menu of contract options with varying collateral requirements and prices. Our results show that a less credit worthy applicant is more likely to select a credit contract that requires less collateral. Further analysis on the borrower's repayment behavior after controlling for observable risk attributes indicates that the lender faces adverse selection and moral hazard due to private information.

Asymmetric Information and the Market Structure of the Banking Industry

Asymmetric Information and the Market Structure of the Banking Industry
Author: Mr.Giovanni Dell'Ariccia
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 32
Release: 1998-06-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 145195154X

The paper analyzes the effects of informational asymmetries on the market structure of the banking industry in a multi-period model of spatial competition. All lenders face uncertainty with regard to borrowers’ creditworthiness, but, in the process of lending, incumbent banks gather proprietary information about their clients, acquiring an advantage over potential entrants. These informational asymmetries are an important determinant of the industry structure and may represent a barrier to entry for new banks. The paper shows that, in contrast with traditional models of horizontal differentiation, the steady-state equilibrium is characterized by a finite number of banks even in the absence of fixed costs.

Could Asymmetric Information Alone Have Caused the Collapse of Private-Label Securitization?

Could Asymmetric Information Alone Have Caused the Collapse of Private-Label Securitization?
Author: Daniel O. Beltran
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 46
Release: 2010
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 143798052X

A key feature of the 2007-2008 financial crisis is that for some classes of securities trade has ceased. And where trade does occur, it appears that market prices are well below what one might believe to be the intrinsic value for that class of security. This seems to be especially true for those securities where the payoff streams are particularly complex (for ex., CDOs). One explanation for this is that info. about these securities intrinsic values is asymmetric, with the current holders having better info. than potential buyers. The resulting adverse selection problem can help explain why more complex securities trade at significant discounts to their intrinsic values or do not trade at all. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.

Complex Mortgages (CM)

Complex Mortgages (CM)
Author: Gene Amromin
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 57
Release: 2011
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1437987850

CM became a popular borrowing instrument during the bullish housing market of the early 2000s but vanished rapidly during the subsequent downturn. These non-traditional loans (interest only, negative amortization, and teaser mortgages) enable households to postpone loan repayment compared to traditional mortgages and hence relax borrowing constraints. But, they increase household leverage and heighten dependence on mortgage refinancing. CM were chosen by prime borrowers with high income levels seeking to purchase expensive houses relative to their incomes. Borrowers with CM experience substantially higher ex post default rates than borrowers with traditional mortgages with similar characteristics. Illus. This is a print on demand report.

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report
Author: Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
Publisher: Cosimo, Inc.
Total Pages: 692
Release: 2011-05-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1616405414

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, published by the U.S. Government and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in early 2011, is the official government report on the United States financial collapse and the review of major financial institutions that bankrupted and failed, or would have without help from the government. The commission and the report were implemented after Congress passed an act in 2009 to review and prevent fraudulent activity. The report details, among other things, the periods before, during, and after the crisis, what led up to it, and analyses of subprime mortgage lending, credit expansion and banking policies, the collapse of companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the federal bailouts of Lehman and AIG. It also discusses the aftermath of the fallout and our current state. This report should be of interest to anyone concerned about the financial situation in the U.S. and around the world.THE FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY COMMISSION is an independent, bi-partisan, government-appointed panel of 10 people that was created to "examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States." It was established as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009. The commission consisted of private citizens with expertise in economics and finance, banking, housing, market regulation, and consumer protection. They examined and reported on "the collapse of major financial institutions that failed or would have failed if not for exceptional assistance from the government."News Dissector DANNY SCHECHTER is a journalist, blogger and filmmaker. He has been reporting on economic crises since the 1980's when he was with ABC News. His film In Debt We Trust warned of the economic meltdown in 2006. He has since written three books on the subject including Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity (Cosimo Books, 2008), and The Crime Of Our Time: Why Wall Street Is Not Too Big to Jail (Disinfo Books, 2011), a companion to his latest film Plunder The Crime Of Our Time. He can be reached online at www.newsdissector.com.

Understanding the Securitization of Subprime Mortgage Credit

Understanding the Securitization of Subprime Mortgage Credit
Author: Adam B. Ashcraft
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 76
Release: 2010-03
Genre:
ISBN: 1437925146

Provides an overview of the subprime mortgage securitization process and the seven key informational frictions that arise. Discusses the ways that market participants work to minimize these frictions and speculate on how this process broke down. Continues with a complete picture of the subprime borrower and the subprime loan, discussing both predatory borrowing and predatory lending. Presents the key structural features of a typical subprime securitization, documents how rating agencies assign credit ratings to mortgage-backed securities, and outlines how these agencies monitor the performance of mortgage pools over time. The authors draw upon the example of a mortgage pool securitized by New Century Financial during 2006. Illustrations.

Financial Markets and Financial Crises

Financial Markets and Financial Crises
Author: R. Glenn Hubbard
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 420
Release: 1991-08-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780226355887

Warnings of the threat of an impending financial crisis are not new, but do we really know what constitutes an actual episode of crisis and how, once begun, it can be prevented from escalating into a full-blown economic collapse? Using both historical and contemporary episodes of breakdowns in financial trade, contributors to this volume draw insights from theory and empirical data, from the experience of closed and open economies worldwide, and from detailed case studies. They explore the susceptibility of American corporations to economic downturns; the origins of banking panics; and the behavior of financial markets during periods of crisis. Sever papers specifically address the current thrift crisis—including a detailed analysis of the over 500 FSLIC-insured thrifts in the southeast—and seriously challenge the value of recent measures aimed at preventing future collapse in that industry. Government economists and policy makers, scholars of industry and banking, and many in the business community will find these timely papers an invaluable reference.