Public and Community Affairs Discussion Papers are a series of research publications exploring regional and national issues in community development, consumer affairs, and economic education. These papers began in 2005.

2008 Papers

No. 2008-1
Foreclosure's Price-Depressing Spillover Effects on Local Properties: A Literature Review
by Kai-yan Lee

The costs of foreclosure often spill over from foreclosed properties to other nearby properties. This short paper reviews some of the research on foreclosure's price-depressing impact on sales of nearby properties, only one of several forms of spillover effects. The studies reviewed here focus on various cities, use different datasets and methodologies, employ different assumptions, and cover different time periods. Their conclusions about foreclosure effects range from reducing nearby properties' sales value by as little as 0.9% to as much as 8.7%. Research also shows that negative spillover effects tend to diminish with distance and time, as does the marginal impact of each additional foreclosure. This paper also presents two studies with rough estimates on New England communities' possible losses from foreclosures' spillover effects on nearby property values.

2007 Papers

No. 2007-5
The Case for the Community Partner in Economic Development
By Anna Steiger, Tessa Hebb, and Lisa Hagerman

Community-based organizations promote economic development by assembling investments in affordable housing, mixed-use real estate, community facilities, and small business in specific geographies. A principal way that community-based organizations tap institutional investors for deals is by partnering with investment intermediaries who manage the risk of these transactions by pooling assets, spreading risk across investors, and pricing the transaction up to the associated risk. Such a partnership allows an investment intermediary, or what the industry calls an “investment vehicle,” to use its expertise to structure a deal that delivers high financial returns to the institutional investor while allowing the community-based organization, or “community partner,” to ensure that the investment provides a community benefit.

In this paper, we argue that both sets of actors are necessary to achieve revitalized communities. Communities need to be able to tap into large-scale investment opportunities made possible by institutional investors while simultaneously ensuring that community residents benefit from such investment. We develop case studies of two investment vehicles and their community partners: the first investment vehicle we examine is the Urban Strategies America Fund, a for-profit urban development real estate fund in Boston; the second is Coastal Enterprises, Inc., of Portland, Maine, a not-for-profit community development corporation with for-profit investment subsidiaries.

No. 2007-4
Overborrowing and Undersaving: Lessons and Policy Implications from Research in Behavioral Economics
By Marques Benton, Stephan Meier, and Charles Sprenger

The U.S. household carries over $7,500 in uncollateralized debt and likely saves at a negative rate. There is a growing body of evidence that this borrowing and saving behavior may not, as assumed by standard economics, be the product of rational financial planning. This paper discusses insights from behavioral economics on how self-control problems could play a crucial role in determining such financial outcomes. It is important to note that self-control problems, as defined in this paper, are thought of as an issue affecting all people, not just those involved in our specific research.

The paper reports results from a field study targeted to low-to-moderate income individuals conducted in Dorchester, MA. It links measured self-control to borrowing and savings outcomes taken from individual credit reports and survey questions respectively. We find that self-control problems are associated with higher borrowing, specifically on credit cards, and lower savings of income tax refunds. The paper discusses how policy prescriptions built around addressing self-control issues could prove helpful in improving financial outcomes.

No. 2007-3
Venture Capital Investment in Secondary Cities: Issues and Opportunities for Impact
By Carole Carlson and Prabal Chakrabarti

Venture capital has been one of the major drivers of the U.S. economy. Using the State of the Inner City Economies database of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, we found that secondary cities – which we have defined as cities outside the 40 largest U.S. metro areas – have received far less than their proportionate share of private equity deals and dollars. By failing to attract capital at similar rates to larger cities, secondary cities are missing a major engine of job and wage growth. Notably, however, a number of secondary cities have managed to assemble the right combination of factors to significantly outperform their peers. To understand this better, we interviewed the leaders of 17 venture capital firms (including both national firms and regional firms and firms representing more than one-half of the top 10 investors in secondary markets). We also interviewed and surveyed 53 companies in secondary markets that successfully received venture capital investment funds, as well as industry experts and venture funding facilitators. Based on these interviews and surveys, our research posits six plausible factors that enable successful secondary cities to attract more venture capital than their peers.

No. 2007-2
University-Community Partnerships: 2006 Worcester Speaker Series
Prepared by Marga, Inc. with support from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Annie E. Casey Foundation

Over the last decade, partnerships between colleges and universities, government, and businesses have helped foster economic development in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. In 2006, the Worcester UniverCity Partnership, a coalition of private and public sector organizations working with colleges, in collaboration with the New England Resource Center for Higher Education, organized a speaker series aimed at promoting the depth and impact of university-community partnerships in the city. This report provides highlights from the 2006 Worcester Speaker Series, discusses the history and characteristics of Worcester’s partnerships, and suggests steps toward a workable action agenda for the city. This is a portrait of one city’s approach to strengthening its partnerships, which can also serve as a model for other cities interested in promoting economic development through university-community partnerships.

No. 2007-1
Understanding Foreclosures in Massachusetts
By Ricardo Borgos, Prabal Chakrabarti, and Julia Reade

Recent increases in foreclosure rates in New England and other parts of the United States are raising concerns. Distressful for individual borrowers and potentially destabilizing for their communities, the negative effects of foreclosures flow beyond the impact on housing markets and the financial consequences for creditors. Public officials, lenders, current and potential homeowners, community organizations, and other stakeholders are paying careful attention.

In low- and moderate-income communities in New England, community leaders view current trends as especially worrisome. Among possible explanations, they stress the expansion of high-cost and subprime lending in these communities; and they cite aggressive or unscrupulous mortgage practices, and even mortgage fraud. Historically, however, other factors have been responsible for foreclosure activity. Regional job losses, rising interest rates, weak housing markets, and stretched borrowers facing negative life events are among the factors that usually push up foreclosure rates. And even critics of current mortgage lending practices acknowledge that homeownership is an effective assetbuilding strategy and that expanding the availability of credit to previously underserved population groups is a worthy goal.

This paper describes recent trends in New England foreclosure rates, discusses possible causes, and looks at the prevalence of foreclosures in Massachusetts cities and towns with significant populations of low- and moderate-income households. It finds that the prevalence of higher cost lending is associated with higher foreclosure rates.

2006 Paper

No. 2006-1
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Home Purchase Data: Summary for New England, 2003
By Julia Reade

This paper provides summary statistics for home purchase data collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act in 2003. In addition to aggregate totals, patterns by income and race / ethnicity are also described. These analyses of HMDA data have been conducted to examine access to home purchase loans, while focusing on traditionally underserved populations – low- and moderate- income (LMI) households and minorities. Overall lending activity has risen in recent years in New England, driven mainly by increasing volumes of applications from LMI and minority households. Although higher income households received more favorable origination and denial rates than lower income households, gaps between groups have narrowed significantly over recent years. In contrast, origination and denial rate gaps between whites and minorities (particularly African Americans and Hispanics) have widened. Gaps between whites and minorities are wider at higher income levels.

2005 Papers

No. 2005-2
Community-Campus Partnerships for Economic Development:
Community Perspectives
By Anna Afshar

Formal collaborations between community groups and academic institutions to promote economic development have increased substantially over the past 10 years. The bulk of research on community-campus partnerships has focused on the experiences of institutions of higher learning and the foundations that have funded the collaborations, leaving a gap in our understanding of community experiences. This report draws on a variety of sources, including first-person interviews and academic literature, to bring out community perspectives on what makes for successful partnerships. The conclusions are presented as practical suggestions for community groups and campuses seeking to optimize partnerships. Four case studies describe lessons learned by participating community groups.

No. 2005-1
International Remittances: Information for New England Financial Institutions
by Mamie Marcuss

Each year, individuals in the United States send billions of dollars abroad. Most of these remittances are sent by immigrants to their home countries, and the majority of them flow through a handful of service providers who dominate this highly profitable business. As the immigrant population in the United States continues to grow, the volume of remittances climbs each year, reaching nearly $35 billion in 2004. Bankers and other financial professionals are taking notice, and financial institutions around the country are investigating ways to enter the market and capture a share of this growing source of revenue. To aid New England's financial institutions in their exploration of the remittance market, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has developed this report, intended to enhance the overall understanding of remittances and to highlight the potential costs and benefits of establishing a remittance program.