Detroit Area Study on Financial Services: What? Why? How?

Abstract

The following article is based on a talk give by Assistant Professor of Law Michael S. Barr to the University of Texas Law School-Harvard Law School Joint Conference on Commercial Law Realities in Austin, Texas, in April. Barr was selected by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center to be the faculty investigator for the Detroit Area Study, which the University has conducted for more than 50 years. Barr is using the study to explore the financial services needs of low- and moderate-income households, building on his groundbreaking analysis in Banking the Poor. Barr raised a total of more than $800,000 from the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Fannie Mae Foundation, the Casey Foundation, and the Mott Foundation, as well as University sources, for the study. Barr is beginning field work this summer.