Area: Finance

Overview of a downtown city scape Research Brief / Unemployment

Consumer Spending and Jobless Data: a Peculiar Threshold

A 12-month high in local unemployment triggers savings behavior

Stack of papers in folders Research Brief / Home Mortgages

Clues to the Market When Mortgage Originators Delay Securitization

With high-quality borrowers hard to judge from afar, Alt-A market offers quiet signal on creditworthiness

Women in front of a stock ticker board Research Brief / Trading

Chinese Investors Learn about Derivatives the Hard Way

An analysis of warrant trading reveals individuals’ poor grasp of complex securities

A list of CD interest rates Research Brief / Banking

CD Withdrawal Penalties: Often More Than Worth the Risk

Banks know you won’t do the math: Even after a penalty for early withdrawal, the longer-term CD often nets out to a better deal

A mobile phone showing cashless payments Research Brief / Personal Finance

Cashless Payments: Faster Transactions, Easier Borrowing and Increased Household Income

System provides digital record of payments for India’s vast self-employed ranks, satisfying lenders, and raising the likelihood of starting a business

Three arrows that get progressively bigger that each have part of the Chinese yuan in them. Research Brief / Banking

Can Banks, Disrupted by Fintech, Adopt New Habits, Too?

In China, patent data shows commercial banks’ use of new technologies helps improve efficiency and reduce risk

FDIC logo on a window Research Brief / Banking

Calculating a Value for the Government Support Banks Enjoy

Researchers’ model could quantify the risks in the growing movement to ease up on Dodd-Frank regulations

Road marking - One Way with snow Research Brief / Investing

Bringing a Sharper Focus to the Study of the Decline of Investment Diversification

Research measures the impact of global economic factors on returns

An angled photo of brick building storefronts Research Brief / Entrepreneurship

Borrowings Suggest Small Company Owners Face Higher Risk

Analysis uses business credit card loans to gauge market perception

A variety of white clouds on a black background Research Brief / Management

Boom of Intangible Assets Felt Across Industries and Economy

Rethinking issues around productivity, income inequality and industry concentration

Illustration of a man weighing two balances Research Brief / Retirement Planning

Behind the Annuity Conundrum: The Belief They’re Unfair

Researchers find little commonality among haters of the difficult-to-sell retirement products, except when discussing fairness

Illustration of a bridge made out of gears with a red connecting section in the middle Research Brief / Banking

Banks, Freed to Operate Across State Lines, Helped Stabilize the Economy

Lenders financed expansion in some markets, offsetting problems in others

A cityscape at sunset overlaid with a grid of lighted network Research Brief / Banking

Banks Transmit Financial Shocks, Including from Natural Disasters

How a localized flood may result in fewer loans to a far-off community

Composite image of stock charts overlaid on an image of a laptop Research Brief / Investing

Banks Rent Out Their Balance Sheets — So Derivatives Cost More

Even before Dodd-Frank rules, the costs were significant

Graphic of investor leisurely sitting in front of an investment terminal reading a book Research Brief / Investing

As Passive Investing Spreads, Overall Market Becomes Less Competitive

Active investors take up some — but not all — of the slack created by index funds

A square with AI in it touched by a human finger Research Question / Artificial Intelligence

As AI Supercharges Finance Research, Will We Believe the Results?

Building benchmarks to guide researchers and validate AI-enabled findings