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Discussion Paper
Community-campus partnerships for economic development: community perspectives
Formal collaborations between community groups and academic institutions to promote economic development have increased substantially over the past 10 years. The bulk of research on community-campus partnerships has focused on the experiences of institutions of higher learning and the foundations that have funded the collaborations, leaving a gap in our understanding of community experiences. This report draws on a variety of sources, including first-person interviews and academic literature, to bring out community perspectives on what makes for successful partnerships. The conclusions are ...
Discussion Paper
Using credit reporting agency data to assess the link between the Community Reinvestment Act and consumer credit outcomes
We use a regression discontinuity design to investigate the effect of the Community Reinvestment Act on consumer credit outcomes using data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York?s Consumer Credit Panel database (Equifax data) for the years 2004 to 2012. A bank?s activities in census tracts with median family incomes less than 80 percent of the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) median family income count toward a lending institution?s compliance with CRA rules. Assuming census tracts with median incomes at 79.9 percent of the MSA median are the same as census tracts at 80 percent?except ...
Discussion Paper
Towards a more prosperous Springfield, MA: what jobs exist for people without a college education?
This paper analyzes projections of Massachusetts employment opportunities by occupation to address concerns about a shortage of jobs for those who lack a college education. While occupations requiring a college degree will grow more rapidly over the period 2006-2016 than occupations that do not require college, replacement needs will ensure large numbers of job openings that do not require college. Wage levels in jobs that do not require college are generally low, however. The exceptions usually require meaningful training of another sort, such as long-term on-the-job training or courses in ...
Discussion Paper
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) home purchase data: summary for New England, 2003
This paper provides summary statistics for home purchase data collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act in 2003. In addition to aggregate totals, patterns by income and race / ethnicity are also described. These analyses of HMDA data have been conducted to examine access to home purchase loans, while focusing on traditionally underserved populations ? low- and moderate- income (LMI) households and minorities. Overall lending activity has risen in recent years in New England, driven mainly by increasing volumes of applications from LMI and minority households. Although higher income ...
Discussion Paper
Home-mortgage lending trends in New England in 2010
This brief analysis of home-mortgage lending trends in New England is based on data collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). HMDA provides information on mortgage lending trends and includes data by loan purpose, type of loan, income, and the race and ethnicity of borrowers. In this report we focus on home-purchase and refinance loans in New England.
Discussion Paper
The role of community partners in urban investments
Institutional investors seeking to deploy capital to underserved areas do not have either the time or the expertise to actively manage these specialized investments. Investment vehicles intervene by using their financial expertise to pool assets and lower transaction costs. Community partners, in turn, link the investment vehicle to the neighborhood. This paper develops a typology of community partners and their unique characteristics that enable them to overcome information asymmetries in certain markets. The paper also discusses the business models that establish the relationship between ...
Discussion Paper
Receivership : a coordinated strategy to stabilize troubled properties
With the impact of municipal debt burdens, coupled with the effects of declining real estate prices and the US financial crisis, municipalities are looking for novel and cost-effective approaches to address abandoned, blighted and/or foreclosed properties that threaten the quality of life of their communities. Receivership, the use of statutory power to seize buildings and place properties under control of a judicially supervised 'receiver', can be an effective tool to tackle the problem of troubled properties which repeatedly violate safety and sanitary codes. Despite its potential, ...
Discussion Paper
Jobs in Springfield, Massachusetts: understanding and remedying the causes of low resident employment rates
As part of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's commitment to supporting efforts to revitalize the economy of Springfield, Massachusetts, this paper explores the causes of and potential remedies for the city's low resident employment rates. When compared to the state as a whole and to other midsize New England cities, the share of employed city residents is low, particularly for residents of downtown Springfield and its nearby neighborhoods. By analyzing the availability of jobs across Springfield's various neighborhoods and in nearby towns and cities, this paper's goal is to learn why so few ...
Discussion Paper
Overborrowing and undersaving: lessons and policy implications from research in behavioral economics
The U.S. household carries over $7,500 in uncollateralized debt and likely saves at a negative rate. There is a growing body of evidence that this borrowing and saving behavior may not, as assumed by standard economics, be the product of rational financial planning. This paper discusses insights from behavioral economics on how self-control problems could play a crucial role in determining such financial outcomes. It is important to note that self-control problems, as defined in this paper, are thought of as an issue affecting all people, not just those involved in our specific research. ; ...
Discussion Paper
Venture capital investment in secondary cities: issues and opportunities for impact
Venture capital has been one of the major drivers of the U.S. economy. Using the State of the Inner City Economies database of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, we found that secondary cities ? which we have defined as cities outside the 40 largest U.S. metro areas ? have received far less than their proportionate share of private equity deals and dollars. By failing to attract capital at similar rates to larger cities, secondary cities are missing a major engine of job and wage growth. Notably, however, a number of secondary cities have managed to assemble the right combination of ...