Can Human Capital Explain Income-Based Disparities in Financial Services?

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Huang, Ruidi; Linck, James S.; Mayer, Erik J.; Parsons, Christopher A.
• 署名单位: Southern Methodist University; University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Madison; University of Southern California
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF FINANCIAL STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0893-9454
• DOI: 10.1093/rfs/hhae004
• 发表日期: 2024
• 关键词: product quality; credit; firm; DISCRIMINATION; foreclosure; FRAUD; BANK

摘要

Research shows that access to high-quality financial services varies with local income and wealth. We study how financial firms' internal allocation of human capital contributes to these disparities. Using a near-comprehensive panel of over 350,000 U.S. mortgage loan officers, we document large and persistent differences in productivity and performance. We find that firms' hiring and promotion practices allocate workers with less experience or poor track records to branches serving low-income customers. Further, the consequences of poor performance differ by location: low sales, bad loans, and misconduct are more tolerated in low-income branches, exacerbating income-based disparities in financial services.