The Economic Effects of Legal Restrictions on High-Cost Mortgages

We analyze the effects of state predatory mortgage lending laws, which have been a model for recent changes in the United States federal legislation enacted to regulate the mortgage contract terms common in higher-risk mortgage market segments. Using the Rothschild-Stiglitz approach to model credit markets under asymmetric information, legal restrictions are shown to reduce the use and attractiveness of mortgage credit. Consistent with model predictions, empirical results indicate that originations of regulated high-cost mortgages were significantly less than predicted in states with more restrictive laws. The differences between predicted and actual originations of high-cost mortgages in states with less restrictive laws were not significant. These differences were also not significant for non-high-cost originations across all states. Thus, credit regulation was differentially associated with reduction in originations of high-cost mortgages, and non-high-cost lending did not consistently expand in areas where high-cost mortgages were restricted.     

Consequences of Debt Forgiveness: Strategic Default Contagion and Lender Learning

I use a unique data set of loans to small business owners to examine whether lenders face adverse consequences when they grant debt forgiveness to borrowers. I provide evidence consistent with borrowers communicating their debt forgiveness to other borrowers, who then more frequently strategically default on their own obligations. This strategic default contagion is economically large. When the lender doubles debt forgiveness, the default rate increases by 10.9% on average. Using an exogenous shock to the lender's forgiveness policy, my findings suggest that as the lender learns about the extent of borrower communication the lender tightens its debt forgiveness policy to mitigate default contagion.     

Determinants of the Dollar Value of Default Risk: A Put Option Perspective

This study uses the option valuation framework to identify andinvestigate the factors affecting the cross-sectional difference inindividual corporate bonds' default risk. The dollar value of defaultrisk (DVDR) is measured by subtracting the observed trading price of arisky corporate bond from a Cox-Ingersoll-Ross model value of acorresponding pseudo-default-free bond. From an option pricingperspective, DVDR can be modeled as the value of a put option on thefirm's risky assets. The DVDR of an individual investment-grade corporatebond is hypothesized to be related to the bond rating, time to maturity ofthe bond, size of the issuing firm, volatility of firm value, and dividendyield of the issuing firm. In the case of the first four factors, theempirical results are consistent with the predictions from a put optionperspective. There is a mixed relationship between DVDR and dividendyield, however, which provides a weaker support for the prediction of theoption valuation model. Such a mixed relationship documents the importantrole that dividend payments play in signaling a firm's future earnings andreducing overall agency costs. ["In particular, the formula can be usedto derive the discount that should be applied to a corporate bond becauseof the possibility of default." (Black and Scholes (1973), Journal of Political Economy, Abstract, p. 637.)]     

Determinants of Mortgage Default and Consumer Credit Use: The Effects of Foreclosure Laws and Foreclosure Delays

The mortgage default decision is part of a complex household credit management problem. We examine how factors affecting mortgage default spill over to other credit markets. As home equity turns negative, homeowners default on mortgages and home equity lines of credit at higher rates, whereas they prioritize repaying credit cards and auto loans. Larger unused credit card limits intensify the preservation of credit cards over housing debt. Although mortgage nonrecourse statutes increase default on all types of housing debt, they reduce credit card defaults. Foreclosure delays increase default rates for housing and nonhousing debts. Our analysis highlights the interconnectedness of debt repayment decisions.     

Optimal Stopping and Losses on Subprime Mortgages

Lender losses on mortgage loans arise from a two-stage process. In the first stage, the borrower stops making payments if and when default is optimal. The second stage is a lengthy and costly period during which the lender employs legal remedies to obtain possession and execute a sale of the collateral. This research uses data on subprime mortgage losses to explore the role of borrower and collateral characteristics, and local legal requirements, as well as traditional option variables in the decisions of borrowers and lenders. Although subprime borrowers default earlier, which should reduce lender losses, these borrowers, nevertheless, impose greater realized losses on mortgage lenders.     

The Relative Termination Experience of Adjustable to Fixed-Rate Mortgages

Our study uses a multinomial logit model to analyze the concurrent termination experience of adjustable-rate and fixed-rate mortgages. A new set of ARM-specific interactive determinants expands the conventional FRM specification to isolate the unique termination behavior of ARMs. We find that expected rate adjustments and large lifetime caps are positively related to ARM termination probabilities while long adjustment frequencies are inversely related. Caps, both periodic and lifetime, have a secondary, inverse effect on termination probabilities when interest-rate movements exceed cap limits. The model also shows that interest-rate expectations affect FRM terminations more strongly than ARM terminations.     

信用评级中的违约率、违约概率研究

信用评级是对个人、经济体与金融工具履行各种经济承诺的能力及可信任程度的综合评价，本文通过对KMV评级模型的研究，指出在信用评级中的关键指标——“违约率和违约概率”在评级中的重要意义。     

住房抵押贷款提前偿付率的宏观影响因素分析

本文从宏观视角,运用多元线性回归模型和半参数模型等对我国个人住房抵押贷款组合提前偿付率的影响因素及其作用机制进行了实证研究。研究发现货币市场中长期贷款利率的提高,会增加借款人再融资成本,从而降低提前偿付率;资本市场作为借款人的收入来源之一与提前偿付率之间存在正相关关系;家庭人均净收入与提前偿付率的关系是非线性的;此外,与国外研究一致,房价和累计提前偿付额也会影响提前偿付率。     

The Influence of Foreclosure Delays on Borrowers' Default Behavior

This paper conducts loan‐level analysis to investigate the influence of expected foreclosure delay on a borrower's default propensity. We include the actual foreclosure times in the analysis to capture the dynamic nature of foreclosure duration. Consistent with theoretical predictions, we find a statistically and economically significant impact of foreclosure delay on borrower default behavior. In the current market condition where many borrowers have negative equity, the increase in delay may make default an optimal choice for more borrowers. The negative effect of increased foreclosure delay may need to be considered when devising policies to aid troubled borrowers.     

Anatomy of an ARM: The Interest-Rate Risk of Adjustable-Rate Mortgages

This article analyzes the dynamics of the commonly used indices for adjustable rate mortgages and systematically compares the effects of their time-series properties on the interest-rate sensitivity of adjustable-rate mortgages. Our ARM valuation methodology allows us simultaneously to capture the effects of index dynamics, discrete coupon adjustment, mortgage prepayment, and both lifetime and periodic caps and floors. We can, moreover, either calculate an optimal prepayment strategy for mortgage holders or use an empirical prepayment function. We find that the different dynamics of the major ARM indices lead to significant variation in the interest-rate sensitivities of loans based on different indices. We also find that changing assumptions about contract features, such as loan caps and coupon reset frequency, has a significant, and in some cases unexpected, impact on our results.     

违约风险模型对违约定义的敏感性研究

本文根据贷款信用风险四级分类和五级分类定义三种违约,运用商业银行的贷款企业会计数据分析了Logistic违约风险模型对违约定义的敏感性。实证研究表明,在三种违约定义下,违约模型的结构相似,但模型选择的变量和变量的显著水平存在差异,违约模型对违约定义具有敏感性。     

Securitization of Longevity Risk in Reverse Mortgages

Abstract

The reverse mortgage market has been expanding rapidly in developed economies in recent years. The onset of demographic transition places a rapidly rising number of households in an age window in which reverse mortgages have potential appeal. Increasing prices for residential real estate over the last decade have further stimulated interest.

Reverse mortgages involve various risks from the provider-s perspective that may hinder the further development of these financial products. This paper addresses one method of transferring and financing the risks associated with these products through the form of securitization. Securitization is becoming a popular and attractive alternative form of risk transfer of insurance liabilities. Here we demonstrate how to construct a securitization structure for reverse mortgages similar to the one applied in traditional insurance products.

Specifically, we investigate the merits of developing survivor bonds and survivor swaps for reverse mortgage products. In the case of survivor bonds, for example, we are able to compute premiums, both analytically and numerically through simulations, and to examine how the longevity risk may be transferred to the financial investors. Our numerical calculations provide an indication of the economic benefits derived from developing survivor bonds to securitize the “longevity risk component” of reverse mortgage products. Moreover, some sensitivity analysis of these economic benefits indicates that these survivor bonds provide for a promising tool for investment diversification.     

基于CDS策略的专利融资信用风险违约概率研究

专利融资是一种备受国家创新战略关注的技术知识产权资本化模式,信用违约风险则是该模式运作过程必须面对的关键问题之一。基于信用违约互换(CDS)工具与策略,主要研究专利融资信用风险期望违约概率与实际违约概率的相关性,并分析其参数敏感性。研究结果表明,实际概率通常会低于期望概率且两者呈现正相关关系,同时,风险溢价与期望收益也呈现正相关性,即系统可以通过标准化分析工具调控实际概率,且能在一定程度上适当容忍稍大的风险,从而提高融资效率。     

The Pricing of Options with Default Risk

This paper considers the pricing of options with default risk. The comparative statics of such options can differ from those of ordinary options, and early exercise of such American call options can be optimal. Several examples of options with default risk are considered.     

The Effect of Mortgage Price and Default Risk on Mortgage Spreads

Variations over time in mortgage yield spreads should reflect changes in the underlying prepayment option value; moreover, the relationship between mortgage yield spreads and interest rate dynamics should weaken as the value of the borrowers prepayment option declines. We verify this hypothesis through an empirical analysis of residential mortgage yield spread behavior, and we also present evidence that the strength of the relationship between mortgage spreads and interest rate dynamics weakens (strengthens) as the level of default risk increases (decreases). This result is consistent with the competing risks effect between a borrowers option to prepay or default. Our results demonstrate the importance of accounting for mortgage price discount to par as well as default risk when developing time series of mortgage yields.     

我国上市公司违约率的顺周期效应分析

由于银行信贷供给、资本品抵押品价格和企业未来经营现金流都具有与经济周期共同波动的特征,可以推测企业违约行为也具有顺周期特征.本文采用B-N分解法对我国GDP数据提取周期成分数据,并运用修正后的KMV模型对我国上市公司违约率的估计数据作计量分析,实证结果表明我国上市公司违约率在2000年以前不存在顺周期效应,但在2000年以后存在显著的顺周期效应.     

Mortgages and bonds: The asset management practices of Australian life insurers to 1960

Recent studies of the experience of the British life insurance industry indicate that a period of transition, and the development of more diversified investment strategies, began in the interwar period. Australian life insurers lagged behind their British counterparts in the introduction of such strategies. This paper investigates why this was the case. It argues that in the Australian market there was both a lack of opportunity and incentive to broaden asset portfolios. However, this did not mean that asset management practices did not advance. Australian life offices became progressively more sophisticated in their approach to portfolio management during this period. Developments in the interwar period provided a grounding for post-war expansion into the equity market.     

The Determinants of Asymmetric Volatility

Volatility in equity markets is asymmetric: contemporaneousreturn and conditional return volatility are negatively correlated.In this article I develop an asymmetric volatility model wheredividend growth and dividend volatility are the two state variablesof the economy. The model allows both the leverage effect andthe volatility feedback effect, the two popular explanationsof asymmetry. The model is estimated by the simulated methodof moments. I find that both the leverage effect and volatilityfeedback are important determinants of asymmetric volatility,and volatility feedback is significant both statistically andeconomically.     

Credit History and the Performance of Prime and Nonprime Mortgages

Although nonprime lending has experienced steady or even explosive growth over the last decade very little is known about the performance characteristics of these mortgages. Using data from national secondary market institutions, this paper estimates a competing risks proportional hazard model, which includes unobserved heterogeneity. The analysis examines the performance of 30-year fixed rate owner occupied home purchase mortgages from February 1995 to the end of 1999 and compares nonprime and prime loan default and prepayment behavior. Nonprime loans are identified by mortgage interest rates that are substantially higher than the prevailing prime rate. Results indicate that nonprime mortgages differ significantly from prime mortgages: they have different risk characteristics at origination; they default at elevated levels; and they respond differently to the incentives to prepay and default. For instance, nonprime mortgages are less responsive to how much the option to call the mortgage or refinance is in the money and this effect is magnified for mortgages with low credit scores. Tests also reveal that default rates are less responsive to homeowner equity when credit scores are included in the specification.