How Do Predatory Lending Laws Influence Mortgage Lending in Urban Areas? A Tale of Two Cities

This paper examines the effects of predatory lending laws in the cities of Chicago and Philadelphia. The level of mortgage activity in each of the cities is compared during the pre- and post-legislative periods relative to other parts of the state to assess the impact of localized legislation. In Chicago, where the predatory lending law focused on banks, a subprime origination in the city was found to be more likely to be made by a nonbank after the passage of the law. In Philadelphia, however, where the predatory legislation was aimed at all financial service providers, a decline was observed in the likelihood of a subprime loan being originated in the city during the post-legislation period, with the minority and low-income market segments experiencing the largest reduction.

Disparities in mortgage lending, bank performance, economic influence and regulatory oversight

Large racial disparities in mortgage loan denial rates and low minority representation among applicants for mortgage credit have created concerns that mortgage lenders discriminate against minorities. This dissertation investigates factors that influence changes in these disparities in 25 MSAs in the U.S. during 1991-1997. During the latter portion of the sample period racial disparities in mortgage denial rates declined significantly, while minority representation in the mortgage applicant pool increased. Some industry observers attribute these changes to improvements in regulatory enforcement of the fair lending laws and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). I hypothesize that improvements in economic conditions during the period that reduce default loss probabilities on mortgage loans contribute to reductions in denial rate disparities, since minorities represent a disproportionate percentage of the marginal loan applicants in this sample. I anticipate that improvements in the financial condition and performance of financial institutions may have had a similar effect. In Chapter 4 of the Dissertation, an empirical model is developed to formally test the joint affect of market forces, including changes in the economy and lender financial condition and performance, as well as regulatory influence on mortgage lending outcomes. The model incorporates the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data on characteristics of applicants for conventional home purchase mortgage loans in 25 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). These data are matched to census tract data from the 1990 U.S. census, bank-specific financial data from the bank reports of condition and income, and state and MSA-level macroeconomic series. A partial adjustment framework is employed to model lending institutions\u27 response to established \u27targets\u27 for racial disparities in denial rates and minority representation. Since these targets are jointly determined, the two-stage least squares (2SLS) method for estimating simultaneous equations is used to estimate the \u27disparity\u27 and \u27representation\u27 models. The results of the 2SLS estimation overall are not consistent with a regulation-induced shift in racial disparities in denial rates and minority representation, after controlling for market forces. While there is some evidence to support a regulatory influence on changes in minority representation, this effect is restricted to institutions that already have satisfactory performance ratings under CRA. The results suggest that changes in the mortgage market during the period disproportionally benefited the minority applicant group. Specifically, changes in the quality of the applicant pools, economic conditions in the MSAs under study, and the financial condition and performance of the lending institutions are found to have a statistically significant influence on mortgage lending outcomes

The Influence of Bureau Scores, Customized Scores and Judgmental Review on the Bank Underwriting Decision-Making Process

In recent years commercial banks have moved toward automated forms of underwriting. This study employs unique bank loan-level data from a scoring lender to determine whether automated underwriting exhibits a potential ‘‘disparate impact’’ across income strata. The findings indicate that strict application of this custom scoring model leads to higher denial rates for low- to moderate-income borrowers when compared with both a naý¨ve judgmental system and a bureau scoring approach. These results suggest that financial regulators should focus more resources on the evaluation and study of customized scoring models.

Effects of levomilnacipran extended-release on major depressive disorder patients with cognitive impairments

Performance-based cognitive data were collected using the Cognitive Drug Research System in a study of levomilnacipran extended-release (ER) 40-120 mg/day (NCT01034462) in adults with major depressive disorder. These data were analyzed post-hoc to explore the relationship between cognitive measures, depression symptoms (Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, MADRS), and self-reported psychosocial functioning (Sheehan Disability Scale; SDS). Changes from baseline were analyzed in the intent-to-treat population and subgroups with impaired attention, as indicated by baseline Cognitive Drug Research System scores for Power of Attention and Continuity of Attention. Path analyses evaluated the direct and indirect effects of levomilnacipran ER on SDS total score change. Significantly greater improvements were observed for levomilnacipran ER versus placebo for Power of Attention, Continuity of Attention, MADRS, and SDS score changes; the mean differences were larger in the impaired subgroups than in the overall intent-to-treat population. Path analyses showed that the majority of SDS total score improvement (>=50%) was attributable to an indirect treatment effect through MADRS total score change; some direct effect of levomilnacipran ER on SDS total score improvement was also observed. In adults with major depressive disorder, levomilnacipran ER effectively improved measures of depression and cognition, which contributed toward reductions in self-reported functional impairment

Can You Swim? Self-Report and Actual Swimming Competence Among Young Adults in Ballarat, Australia

This paper reports the Australian findings in an international study comparing self-reported and actual swimming and aquatic skills of young adults. Physical Education and Sports Sciences students (n=263) completed the “Can You Swim?” self-report survey and practical skills assessment, unaware that the practical tests replicated survey items. Relationships for comparisons between practical tests and their matched survey item were weak, indicating participants had inaccurate perceptions of their own swimming skills. Typically, they underestimated their competence in terms of distance and fundamental aquatic skills. Understanding of what constitutes different levels of swimming ability was poor, for example, most participants identified as average or good to excellent swimmers, but more than half of self-identified average swimmers, and 20% of good to excellent swimmers, estimated they could complete \u3c100m of continuous swimming. The implications of study findings for drowning prevention and the need for further research are discussed

Diversity, urban space and the right to the provincial city

Using three vignettes of the same physical space this article contributes to understanding of how the right to the city is contested in provincial England in the early twenty-first century. Oral history and ethnographic material gathered in Peterborough between 2010 and 2012 are drawn on to shed new light on the politics of diversity and urban space. This highlights the multiple place attachments and trans-spatial practices of all residents, including the white ethnic majority, as well as contrasting forms of active intervention in space with their different temporalities and affective intensities. The article carries its own diversity politics, seeking to reduce the harm done by racism through challenging the normalisation of the idea of a local, indigenous population, left out by multiculturalism. It simultaneously raises critical questions about capitalist regeneration strategies in terms of their impact both on class inequality and on the environment

Investigating the New Landscapes of Welfare: Housing Policy, Politics and the Emerging Research Agenda

As debates about housing form an increasingly important arena of political controversy, much has been written about the new fissures that have appeared as governments not only struggle to reduce public expenditure deficits but also attempt to address problems such as affordability and homelessness. It is widely anticipated that new conflicts will be played out in the private rental market as access to homeownership becomes unrealistic and the supply of social housing diminishes. However, what other tensions might surface; that hitherto have not been subject to the critical gaze of housing research? In this paper, we provide some thoughts on the nascent policy issues as well as the ideological schisms that are likely to develop in coming years, offering suggestions as to how the focus of housing policy research might be reoriented towards a “politics” framework to capture and better understand the conflicts that are likely to arise

Designed to fail : a biopolitics of British Citizenship.

Tracing a route through the recent 'ugly history' of British citizenship, this article advances two central claims. Firstly, British citizenship has been designed to fail specific groups and populations. Failure, it argues, is a design principle of British citizenship, in the most active and violent sense of the verb to design: to mark out, to indicate, to designate. Secondly, British citizenship is a biopolitics - a field of techniques and practices (legal, social, moral) through which populations are controlled and fashioned. This article begins with the 1981 Nationality Act and the violent conflicts between the police and black communities in Brixton that accompanied the passage of the Act through the British parliament. Employing Michel Foucault's concept of state racism, it argues that the 1981 Nationality Act marked a pivotal moment in the design of British citizenship and has operated as the template for a glut of subsequent nationality legislation that has shaped who can achieve citizenship. The central argument is that the existence of populations of failed citizens within Britain is not an accident of flawed design, but is foundational to British citizenship. For many 'national minorities' the lived realities of biopolitical citizenship stand in stark contradistinction to contemporary governmental accounts of citizenship that stress community cohesion, political participation, social responsibility, rights and pride in shared national belonging

Germplasm Evaluation Program Progress Report No. 19

Breed differences in performance characteristics are an important genetic resource for improving efficiency of beef production. Diverse breeds are required to exploit heterosis and complementarity through crossbreeding and composite populations to match genetic potential with diverse markets, feed resources and climates. Beef producers are under increasing pressure to reduce fat while maintaining or improving tenderness and palatability of products. No single breed excels in all traits of importance to beef production. Previous results have shown that Bos indicus X Bos taurus (e.g., Brahman, Sahiwal and Nellore sired F1 cows out of Hereford and Angus dams) crosses were exceptionally productive and efficient cows, especially in a subtropical environment (e.g., Florida versus Nebraska). However, as the proportion Bos indicus increased, the advantages of Bos indicus crosses were tempered by older age at puberty and reduced meat tenderness. This report presents preliminary results from Cycle V of Germplasm Evaluation Program at the Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (U.S. Meat Animal Research Center) focusing primarily on characterization of some heavy muscled continental European breeds and some tropically adapted breeds compared to Hereford and Angus sired crosses for characteristics of importance in beef production