Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP9474
Authors: Yuliya Demyanyk; Dmytro Hryshko; Maria Jose Luengo Prado; Bent E. Sørensen
Abstract: Using credit report data from two of the three major credit bureaus in the United States, we infer with high certainty whether households move to other labor markets defined by metropolitan areas. We estimate how moving patterns relate to labor market conditions, personal credit, and homeownership using panel regressions with fixed effects which control for all constant individual-specific traits. We interpret the patterns through simulations of a dynamic model of consumption, housing, and location choice. We find that homeowners with negative home equity move more than other homeowners, in particular when local unemployment growth is high---overall, negative home equity is not an important barrier to labor mobility.
Keywords: credit constraint; credit reports; mobility; unemployment
JEL Codes: D1; E2
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| negative home equity (G51) | mobility (J62) |
| individual-level home equity (G51) | mobility (J62) |
| negative home equity (G51) | labor mobility (J62) |
| local unemployment (J64) | mobility (J62) |