This dissertation presents three essays in financial economics.
In the first chapter, Bankruptcy Lawyers and Credit Recovery, I study how bankruptcy law firm advertisements affect credit recovery of households in financial distress. Exploiting the border discontinuity strategy associated with the geographic unit in which local TV advertisements are sold, I empirically uncover bankruptcy filings and credit recovery related to exogenous variations in bankruptcy law firm advertisements. I first document a significant advertising effect on filing rates and show that advertising-induced filers are similar to existing filers. I then find a positive effect of advertisements on credit outcomes including credit score, new homeownership, and foreclosure. I interpret these findings as evidence that lawyers address information frictions in households' assessment of the bankruptcy option.
In the second chapter, Cross-subsidization of Bad Credit in a Lending Crisis, we study the corporate-loan pricing decisions of a major, systemic bank during the Greek financial crisis. A unique aspect of our dataset is that we observe both the actual interest rate and the ``breakeven rate'' (BE rate) of each loan, as computed by the bank's own loan-pricing department (in effect, the loan's marginal cost). We document that low-BE-rate (safer) borrowers are charged significant markups, whereas high-BE-rate (riskier) borrowers are charged smaller and even negative markups. We rationalize this de facto cross-subsidization through the lens of a dynamic model featuring depressed collateral values, impaired capital-market access, and limit pricing.
In the third chapter, Who Provides Credit in Times of Crisis? Evidence from the Auto Loan Market, we explore lending from traditional banks, credit unions, and finance companies (nonbanks) in the auto loan market over the past two decades with emphasis on the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that banks provided weak support during the pandemic, thus losing market share and continuing a trend that emerged following the Great Recession. Nonbank market share during this period grew most significantly for subprime borrowers and in counties with stronger bank dependence. We present evidence consistent with a supply-side interpretation of this bank market share loss. These findings contrast with the experience during the Great Recession, when banks contributed the most resilient credit to the auto loan market. Our paper highlights nonbanks’ critical role in the auto loan market in times of crisis, particularly for the subprime segment.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:columbia.edu/oai:academiccommons.columbia.edu:10.7916/gn4d-za61 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Lee, Brian Jonghwan |
| Source Sets | Columbia University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Theses |
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