Urbanization, agglomeration economies, and access to mortgage credit

Stuart Gabriel and Stuart Rosenthal ()

Regional Science and Urban Economics, 2013, vol. 43, issue 1, 42-50

Abstract: We examine the effect of urban agglomeration on access to mortgage credit using HMDA data from 1994 to 2008. Previous studies suggest that agglomeration should increase access to specialized workers and information, both of which should enhance liquidity in mortgage lending. Findings indicate that agglomeration economies increase mortgage origination rates and loan amounts in the 1990s, and especially so in higher risk locations. However, agglomeration effects dissipated over the study period. While we do not identify the microfoundations of these patterns, the decline in the influence of agglomeration coincides with the dramatic expansion of secondary mortgage markets and development of information technology, both of which should have reduced regional disparities in access to credit.

Keywords: Urbanization; Agglomeration economies; Mortgage credit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G2 R1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166046212001068
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:regeco:v:43:y:2013:i:1:p:42-50

DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2012.11.006

Access Statistics for this article

Regional Science and Urban Economics is currently edited by D.P McMillen and Y. Zenou

More articles in Regional Science and Urban Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().