Online Finance Research Seminar: “Same-Sex Marriage Laws and Lending to Same-Sex Couples” by Louis NGUYEN – King’s College
Speaker Duc Duy (Louis) NGUYEN
King’s College London
Date and Location – Thursday October 1st 2020 from 12:30 to 14:00 on ZOOM
Abstract:
We use the staggered adoption of same-sex marriage legalization across the U.S. to study its effects on access to credit for same-sex couples. Following the legalization of same-sex marriage, same-sex couples are more likely to be denied mortgage credit compared to opposite-sex couples. Our data do not support opinion backlash as an explanation for the increasing denial gap. Instead, our results suggest a role for information frictions between loan officers and same-sex borrowers as one channel for the disparate treatment of same-sex and opposite-sex applicants. Our findings suggest mortgage lending decisions may not be as automated as widely thought.
> Co-authors: Jens Hagendorff – University of Edinburgh, Duc Duy Nguyen – King’s College London, Vathunyoo Sila – University of Edinburgh
> Keywords: Banks, Mortgages, Same-sex marriage
> JEL classifications: G21, I28, J15, K36