Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines the effectiveness of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) in facilitating small business lending to lower-income neighborhoods. Taking advantage of an exogenous policy shock that resulted in neighborhood-level changes in CRA eligibility, we identify changes in small business lending in tracts that became CRA eligible and CRA ineligible and compare these with control groups constructed in two ways. The results of our difference-in-differences analysis uniformly show increases in the number of loans associated with CRA eligibility, which is consistent with a view that the CRA promotes small business lending in lower-income neighborhoods.

Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call