Reducing Racial Disparities in Consumer Credit: Evidence from Anonymous Loan Applications

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2024.05026

References

  • Agan A, Starr S (2018) Ban the box, criminal records, and racial discrimination: A field experiment. Quart. J. Econom. 133(1):191–235.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Agarwal S, Choi HS, He J, Sing TF (2019) Matching in housing markets: The role of ethnic social networks. Rev. Financial Stud. 32(10):3958–4004.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Aigner DJ, Cain GG (1977) Statistical theories of discrimination in labor markets. Indust. Labor Relations Rev. 30(2):175–187.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Arrow KJ (1973) The theory of discrimination. Ashenfelter O, Rees A, eds. Racial Discrimination in Economic Life (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ), 3–33.Google Scholar
  • Bartik AW, Nelson ST (2025) Deleting a signal: Evidence from pre-employment credit checks. Rev. Econom. Statist. 107(1):152–171. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Bartlett R, Morse A, Stanton R, Wallace N (2022) Consumer-lending discrimination in the fintech era. J. Financial Econom. 143(1):30–56.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Becker GS (1957) The Economics of Discrimination (University of Chicago Press, Chicago).Google Scholar
  • Behaghel L, Crépon B, Le Barbanchon T (2015) Unintended effects of anonymous résumés. Amer. Econom. J. Appl. Econom. 7(3):1–27.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Berg T, Fuster A, Puri M (2022) Fintech lending. Annual Rev. Financial Econom. 14:187–207.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Berg T, Burg V, Gombović A, Puri M (2020) On the rise of fintechs: Credit scoring using digital footprints. Rev. Financial Stud. 33(7):2845–2897.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Bertrand M, Duflo E (2017) Field experiments on discrimination. Handbook Econom. Field Experiments 1:309–393.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Bertrand M, Mullainathan S (2004) Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination. Amer. Econom. Rev. 94(4):193–204.Google Scholar
  • Bhutta N, Hizmo A (2021) Do minorities pay more for mortgages? Rev. Financial Stud. 34(2):763–789.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Bhutta N, Hizmo A, Ringo D (2025) How much does racial bias affect mortgage lending? Evidence from human and algorithmic credit decisions. J. Finance 80(3):1463–1496.Google Scholar
  • Blattner L, Nelson S (2024) How costly is noise? Data and disparities in consumer credit. Working paper, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.Google Scholar
  • Bohren JA, Haggag K, Imas A, Pope DG (2025) Inaccurate statistical discrimination: An identification problem. Rev. Econom. Statist. 107(3):605–620.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Buchak G, Matvos G, Piskorski T, Seru A (2018) Fintech, regulatory arbitrage, and the rise of shadow banks. J. Financial Econom. 130(3):453–483.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Butler AW, Mayer EJ, Weston JP (2022) Racial disparities in the auto loan market. Rev. Financial Stud. 36(1):1–41.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Cornell B, Welch I (1996) Culture, information, and screening discrimination. J. Political Econom. 104(3):542–571.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • D’Acunto F, Ghosh P, Rossi AG (2021) How costly are cultural biases? Evidence from FinTech. Preprint, submitted January 8, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3736117.Google Scholar
  • Dobbie W, Liberman A, Paravisini D, Pathania V (2021) Measuring bias in consumer lending. Rev. Econom. Stud. 88(6):2799–2832.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Fisman R, Paravisini D, Vig V (2017) Cultural proximity and loan outcomes. Amer. Econom. Rev. 107(2):457–492.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Frame WS, Huang R, Jiang EX, Lee Y, Liu WS, Mayer EJ, Sunderam A (2025) The impact of minority representation at mortgage lenders. J. Finance 80(2):1209–1260.Google Scholar
  • Fryer RG, Levitt SD (2004) The causes and consequences of distinctively black names. Quart. J. Econom. 119(3):767–805.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Fuster A, Goldsmith-Pinkham P, Ramadorai T, Walther A (2022) Predictably unequal? The effects of machine learning on credit markets. J. Finance 77(1):5–47.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Fuster A, Plosser M, Schnabl P, Vickery J (2019) The role of technology in mortgage lending. Rev. Financial Stud. 32(5):1854–1899.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Gao J, Yi H, Zhang DH (2023) The role of human underwriting in the big data era. Preprint, submitted November 10, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4602411.Google Scholar
  • Goldin C, Rouse C (2000) Orchestrating impartiality: The impact of “blind” auditions on female musicians. Amer. Econom. Rev. 90(4):715–741.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Hanson A, Hawley Z, Martin H, Liu B (2016) Discrimination in mortgage lending: Evidence from a correspondence experiment. J. Urban Econom. 92:48–65.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Howell ST, Kuchler T, Snitkof D, Stroebel J, Wong J (2024) Lender automation and racial disparities in credit access. J. Finance 79(2):1457–1512.Google Scholar
  • Iyer R, Khwaja AI, Luttmer EF, Shue K (2016) Screening peers softly: Inferring the quality of small borrowers. Management Sci. 62(6):1554–1577.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Kline P, Rose EK, Walters CR (2022) Systemic discrimination among large U.S. employers. Quart. J. Econom. 137(4):1–74.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Krause A, Rinne U, Zimmermann KF (2012) Anonymous job applications of fresh Ph.D. economists. Econom. Lett. 117(2):441–444.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Phelps ES (1972) The statistical theory of racism and sexism. Amer. Econom. Rev. 62(4):659–661.Google Scholar
  • Ponce A, Seira E, Zamarripa G (2017) Borrowing on the wrong credit card? Evidence from Mexico. Amer. Econom. Rev. 107(4):1335–1361.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Pope DG, Sydnor JR (2011a) Implementing anti-discrimination policies in statistical profiling models. Amer. Econom. J. Econom. Policy 3(3):206–231.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Pope DG, Sydnor JR (2011b) What’s in a picture? Evidence of discrimination from prosper.com. J. Human Resources 46(1):53–92.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Willen P, Zhang DH (2023) Testing for discrimination in menus. Working paper, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston.Google Scholar
  • Wolpert DH (1992) Stacked generalization. Neural Networks 5(2):241–259.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Wong M (2013) Estimating ethnic preferences using ethnic housing quotas in Singapore. Rev. Econom. Stud. 80(3):1178–1214.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
INFORMS site uses cookies to store information on your computer. Some are essential to make our site work; Others help us improve the user experience. By using this site, you consent to the placement of these cookies. Please read our Privacy Statement to learn more.