Discrimination in Financial Services

Equal treatment in access to credit has long been a fundamental social goal in the United States. However, despite the passage of several laws in the U.S. prohibiting discrimination in the provision of financial services on the basis of race, gender, and marital status, among other factors, questions concerning the existence of racial discrimination in such areas as home mortgage loans and small business credit continue, and confound public policy makers. This book is composed of nine articles and a panel discussion, originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Financial Services Research. These contributions explore the complex issue of discrimination in financial services.

Editors' Note. Introduction. Detecting Discrimination in Mortgage Lending: Using HMDA Data as a Regulatory Screen for Fair Lending Compliance; R.B. Avery, et al. Mortgage Lending, Race, and Model Specification; D.K. Horne. Strategic Responses to Bank Regulation: Evidence from HMDA Data; D.D. Evanoff, L.M. Segal. Issues in Redlining, Underwriting, and Pricing: Mortgage Loans to Nonoccupants as an Indicator of Racial Redlining; A. Holmes, et al. A Reconsideration of Discrimination in Mortgage Underwriting with Data from a national Mortgage Bank; E. Rosenblatt. Discrimination Resulting from Overage Practices; M. Courchane, D. Nickerson. Models of Discrimination in Credit Markets: Cultural Affinity and Lending Discrimination: The Impact of Underwriting Errors and Credit Risk Distribution on Applicant Denial Rates; M.F. Ferguson, S.R. Peters. The Economics of Low-Income Mortgage Lending; D. Malmquist, et al. Do Black-Owned Banks Discriminate Against Black Borrowers? H.A. Black, et al. Discrimination in Financial Services: Panel: What Do We Know? S. Wachter. What Do We Not Know? G.J. Benston. How Shoul We Proceed? R. Townsend. Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee Statements. Financial Economists Roundtable Statement on Risk Disclosure by Mutual Funds.