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The Review of Corporate Finance Studies Vol. 2 No. 1 2013

Bridging the Gap? Government Subsidized Lending and Access to Capital

Kristle Cortés1; Josh Lerner2

1 Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland · 2 Harvard University

Abstract

The consequences of providing public funds to financial institutions remain controversial. We examine the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund’s impact on credit union activity, using hitherto little studied U.S. Treasury data. The CDFI Fund grants increase lending at credit unions by 3%. For every dollar awarded, 45 additional cents are loaned out to borrowers in the first year, and up to an additional $1.60 is loaned out within three years. Delinquent loan rates also increase slightly. Our panel results are supported by a broadband regression discontinuity analysis. Politics does not seem to play a role in allocating funding.

DOI
10.1093/rcfs/cft002
Volume
2
Issue
1
Pages
98-128
Language
en
Sources
openalex bibtex:phds-export.bib crossref

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