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Journal Article
Wages and risk-taking in occupational credit unions: theory and evidence
Most occupational credit unions serve (in part) as a means for corporate sponsors to deliver tax-favored benefits to their employees. Credit union managers administer this transfer of benefits, but their performance is difficult to measure, particularly in larger credit unions. In this article, William R. Emmons and Frank A. Schmid develop a model of efficiency wages and optimal risk-taking and then provide empirical evidence from a large sample of occupational credit unions. Higher wage expenses are found in larger credit unions. In addition, the authors find a negative relationship between ...
Journal Article
Why do gasoline prices react to things that have not happened?
Some people complain they are being gouged at the pump, but raising prices now in anticipation of what might happen helps ensure an adequate gas supply.
House Prices Surpass Housing-Bubble Peak on One Key Measure of Value
An index measuring the ratio of house price to rent has risen to its highest level since 1975. The previous peak occurred during the housing bubble.
Journal Article
Asset Diversification and Low Debt Are the Keys to Building and Maintaining Wealth
Greatly expanded access to home mortgages during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s appeared to make the American dream a reality for millions of families. Homeownership was attainable by many who, for the first time, were able to take out a mortgage with an extremely low or no down payment ? even if they had a blemished credit history or none at all. For those with access to their accumulated home equity through mortgage refinancing or other home-secured borrowing, as well as to other sources of credit, lack of available cash no longer meant that they had to delay making routine purchases, buying a ...
Journal Article
Credit unions and the common bond
A distinguishing feature of credit unions is the legal requirement that members share a common bond. This organizing principle recently became the focus of national attention when the Supreme Court and the U.S. Congress took opposite sides in a controversy regarding the number of common bonds (fields of membership) that could coexist within a single credit union. In this article, Emmons and Schmid develop and simulate a model of credit-union formation and consolidation to examine the effects of common-bond restrictions on the performance of credit unions. The performance measures are ...
Journal Article
Is College Still Worth It? The New Calculus of Falling Returns
The college income premium is the extra income earned by a family whose head has a college degree over the income earned by an otherwise similar family whose head does not have a college degree. This premium remains positive but has declined for recent graduates. The college wealth premium (extra net worth) has declined more noticeably among all cohorts born after 1940. Among families whose head is White and born in the 1980s, the college wealth premium of a terminal four-year bachelor?s degree is at a historic low; among families whose head is any other race and ethnicity born in that ...
Journal Article
Household financial stability: who suffered the most from the crisis?
The financial crisis and ensuing recession took a toll on just about everybody?s household wealth. Not surprisingly, the pain wasn?t evenly distributed. Those groups that are usually the most vulnerable in our society?young and middle-aged minority households?suffered the most, percentage-wise.
Journal Article
Mortgage borrowing: the boom and bust
Also titled as "Mortgage Boom and Bust Affected Different Age Groups Differently" in PDF format.