A Fistful of Dollars: Lobbying and the Financial Crisis

72 Pages Posted: 5 Jan 2010

See all articles by Deniz Igan

Deniz Igan

International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Financial Studies Division

Prachi Mishra

International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Research Department

Thierry Tressel

International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Research Department

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 2009

Abstract

Using detailed information on lobbying and mortgage lending activities, we find that lenders lobbying more on issues related to mortgage lending (i) had higher loan-to-income ratios, (ii) securitized more intensively, and (iii) had faster growing portfolios. Ex-post, delinquency rates are higher in areas where lobbyist' lending grew faster and they experienced negative abnormal stock returns during key crisis events. The findings are robust to (i) falsification tests using lobbying on issues unrelated to mortgage lending, (ii) a difference-in-difference approach based on state-level laws, and (iii) instrumental variables strategies. These results show that lobbying lenders engage in riskier lending.

Keywords: Corporate sector, Economic models, Financial crisis, Financial institutions, Financial sector, Global Financial Crisis 2008-2009, Governance, Housing, Legislation, Loans, Political economy

Suggested Citation

Igan, Deniz and Mishra, Prachi and Tressel, Thierry, A Fistful of Dollars: Lobbying and the Financial Crisis (December 2009). IMF Working Paper No. 09/287, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1531520

Deniz Igan

International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Financial Studies Division ( email )

700 19th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Prachi Mishra

International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Research Department ( email )

700 19th Street NW
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Thierry Tressel (Contact Author)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Research Department ( email )

700 19th Street NW
Washington, DC 20431
United States

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