Household Finance Shapes Political Participation: Evidence from Mortgage Refinancing

Haoyang Liu (), W. Ben McCartney, Rodney Ramcharan, Calvin Zhang and Xiaohan Zhang

No 2517, Working Papers from Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Abstract: We study mortgage refinancing during the Great Recession, a period marked by a dislocated housing market, major government programs, and large potential gains from refinancing. Using quasi-experimental variation from movements in mortgage rates and eligibility cutoffs in HARP, we show that borrowers who refinanced between 2009 and 2012 were more likely to vote in the 2012 general election than otherwise similar borrowers who did not refinance. The increase in turnout is concentrated among households that experienced larger payment reductions and among politically independent voters. Our findings show that policy-induced mortgage relief can extend beyond household balance sheets into the political sphere and highlight the deep connections between finance and politics.

Keywords: household finance; mortgages; interest rates; political participation; voter turnout (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D14 D72 E43 H31 R20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 56
Date: 2025-05-12, Revised 2026-03-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-pol and nep-ure
Note: Previously circulated as "Relieving Financial Distress Increases Voter Turnout: Evidence from the Mortgage Market."
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fip:feddwp:99960

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DOI: 10.24149/wp2517r1

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