Journal Article The Animal Farm: A Mathematical Model for the Discussion of Social Standards for Control of the Environment Get access Harold A. Thomas, Jr. Harold A. Thomas, Jr. Harvard University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 77, Issue 1, February 1963, Pages 143–148, https://doi.org/10.2307/1879377 Published: 01 February 1963

Mortgage overage pricing is little understood by consumers and has received little academic scrutiny. We consider the impact of the market power of individual loan officers on overages paid by borrowers, particularly minorities. We include numerous borrower and lender characteristics unavailable previously. We find that minorities who purchase homes pay larger overages than whites, but our evidence suggests that this traces to differences in the pools of borrowers rather than to racial discrimination. We conclude that a more effective way to eliminate racial differences in overages is to increase minorities’ ability to bargain rather than to enact additional anti-discrimination laws.