Donor-advised funds (DAFs), important vehicles for philanthropic giving in the United States, have grown significantly in the recent past and continue to do so. DAFs are different from traditional charities because of the inherent flexibility contained in their structures. Of particular importance is the possibility given to donors to “give now, decide later.” In the RCFS paper “Social Change through Financial Innovation: Evidence from Donor-Advised Funds,” Jillian Grennan uses a… Read More »Paper Spotlight: Social Change through Financial Innovation: Evidence from Donor-Advised Funds

The reasons that can explain the very important issue of gender disparities in labor market outcomes are still quite nebulous. To remove such disparities we need first to understand the sources of women’s differential labor market outcomes. Differences in human capital have been found lacking in explaining observed differences. Recent developments in the literature point to three potential factors: gender differences in preferences, structure of work that can differentially impact… Read More »Paper Spotlight: What’s Good for Women Is Good for Science: Evidence from the American Finance Association

              As migration across countries and continents has continued to rise, societies must ask whether these new members of their communities are suffering from lower access to finance due to a trust gap arising from cultural differences. There is ample evidence showing that cultural differences have an important effect on economic outcomes, and they do so through two different channels. First, there could be… Read More »Paper Spotlight: Culture, Lending Relationships, and the Cost of Credit

Various studies provide evidence of racial and ethnic disparities in residential mortgage lending, and show that minorities face a higher probability of being denied a mortgage and a higher cost of capital when they are approved for one. In “Racial Disparities in Mortgage Lending: New Evidence Based on Processing Time,” Bin Wei and Feng Zhao investigate a dimension about which very little is known, the time to process a loan… Read More »Paper Spotlight: Racial Disparities in Mortgage Lending: New Evidence Based on Processing Time