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
It’s You, Not Me – Survey Data on AI’s Impact on Employees
While the effect of artificial intelligence (AI) on the workplace has received a significant amount of attention in recent years, the nature of that effect on employees and on the job market appears to be mixed among respondents to the LIFE Survey.
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?
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
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.