G2 - Financial Institutions and Services

• The Role of Intermediaries in Selection Markets: Evidence from Mortgage Lending

  Staff Working Paper 2023-12 Jason Allen, Robert Clark, Jean-François Houde, Shaoteng Li, Anna Trubnikova

  This paper looks at the role mortgage brokers play in helping borrowers generate quotes and qualify for credit. We find that, on average, borrowers that engage with a mortgage broker pay lower interest rates. However, in about 15% of cases, borrowers are steered towards longer amortizing mortgages than they would have chosen absent a broker. Since mortgages with longer amortization have higher total interest costs over the entire life of the mortgage, this steering is expensive.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial services, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): D, D4, G, G2, G21, L, L2

• Exporting and Investment Under Credit Constraints

  Staff Working Paper 2023-10 Kim Huynh, Robert Petrunia, Joel Rodrigue, Walter Steingress

  We examine the relationship between firms’ performance and credit constraints affecting export market entry. Using administrative Canadian firm-level data, our findings show that new exporters (a) increase their productivity, (b) raise their leverage ratio and (c) increase investment. We estimate that 48 percent of Canadian manufacturers face binding credit constraints when deciding whether to enter export markets.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Firm dynamics, International topics, Productivity JEL Code(s): F, F1, F10, F14, F3, F36, G, G2, G20, G28, G3, G32

• Stress Relief? Funding Structures and Resilience to the Covid Shock

  Staff Working Paper 2023-7 Kristin Forbes, Christian Friedrich, Dennis Reinhardt

  Funding structures affected the amount of financial stress different countries and sectors experienced during the spread of COVID-19 in early 2020. Policy responses targeting specific vulnerabilities were more effective at mitigating this stress than those supporting banks or the economy more broadly.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Exchange rates, Financial institutions, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies, International topics JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, E6, E65, F, F3, F31, F36, F4, F42, G, G1, G18, G2, G23, G3, G38

• Mandatory Retention Rules and Bank Risk

  Staff Working Paper 2023-3 Yuteng Cheng

  This paper studies, theoretically and empirically, the unintended consequences of mandatory retention rules in securitization. It proposes a novel model showing that while retention strengthens monitoring, it may also encourage banks to shift risk.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credit risk management, Financial institutions, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): G, G2, G21, G28

• Geographical and Cultural Proximity in Retail Banking

  Staff Working Paper 2023-2 Santiago Carbo-Valverde, Héctor Pérez Saiz, Hongyu Xiao

  This paper measures how both geographical and cultural proximity of bank branches affect household credit choice and pricing. For credit products that require high levels of ex-ante screening, we find that both proximities can complement each other in reducing the cost of providing soft information, thereby increasing credit access.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial institutions, Financial services JEL Code(s): D, D8, D82, D83, G, G2, G20, G21, R, R2, R22, Z, Z1, Z10, Z13