This paper tests for the existence of discrimination in consumer lending by finance companies in Texas before the passage of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The data used permit conclusions about discrimination in the market, not just in the behavior of a small number of creditors. The tests suggest that lenders did not discriminate against factors now protected by ECOA. These companies may have discriminated against single borrowers of both sexes and against widows but not married women or divorced borrowers. The results support the view that consumer credit markets as a whole were not characterized by widespread systematic discrimination. Copyright 1990 by MIT Press.

ABSTRACT This paper provides further evidence on the distributional impact of interest rate ceilings on the small saver. Cross‐section data from the 1977 Consumer Credit Survey was used to estimate the implicit losses imposed on different income classes by government regulations. Our findings generally support earlier studies which found the implicit burden to be regressive among income classes. However, the degree of regressivity showed a marked decrease since 1970. These results may be explained by portfolio adjustments of households and financial innovations in response to deposit rate ceilings and accelerating inflation during the 1970s.