Has the Community Reinvestment Act increased loan availability among small businesses operating in minority neighbourhoods?
Has the Community Reinvestment Act increased loan availability among small businesses operating in minority neighbourhoods?
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DOI：
10.1177/0042098014534903
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发表时间：
2015-07-01
期刊：
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
Robb, Alicia
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bates, Timothy;Robb, Alicia
1977年的《社区再投资法案》(CRA)确立了一项大胆的议程，要求美国的金融机构服务于低收入和中等收入地区的信贷需求，包括传统上被排除在外的少数族裔居民区。CRA最初遭到银行家和负责执法的联邦监管机构的反对，几十年来一直备受争议。这项研究通过调查位于少数族裔社区的小企业是否与位于其他环境的同等信誉的公司获得相同程度的银行贷款来探讨CRA的影响。我们分析了小企业未得到满足的信贷需求及其贷款申请的结果。我们发现，在某些方面已经实现了贷款准入的平等，这表明CRA对贷款可获得性有积极的影响。尽管如此，不平等依然存在。对于未得到满足的信贷需求，如果公司的所有者是非裔美国人、拉丁裔或亚裔美国人，公司就会受到惩罚。由于少数族裔社区大约一半的业主是少数族裔，我们面临的挑战是弄清小企业地理位置与业主种族对贷款获得的影响。对我们的发现背后的原因进行了调查。银行监管机构是否主动减少了传统的歧视性贷款做法？或者，激进的社区团体应该对此负责吗？尽管维权团体倡导的议程与实际收益非常吻合，但监管机构重叠但不同的声明目标并非如此。
The 1977 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) established a bold agenda requiring financial institutions in the USA to serve the credit needs of low- and moderate-income areas, including traditionally excluded minority residential areas. Initially opposed by both bankers and the federal regulatory authorities responsible for enforcement, the CRA has been contentious for decades. This study explores CRA impacts by investigating whether small businesses located in minority neighbourhoods have the same degree of bank-loan access as equally creditworthy firms located in other environs. We analysed both the unmet credit needs of small firms and the outcomes of their loan applications. We found that equality in loan access has been attained in some respects, indicating the CRA has had positive effects on loan availability. Inequality nonetheless persists. Regarding unmet credit needs, firms are penalised if their owners are African American, Latino or Asian American. Since roughly half of owners in minority communities are minorities, our challenge was to disentangle the effects on loan access of small-business geographic location versus owner race. Causal factors underlying our findings were investigated. Did bank regulators take the initiative in lessening traditional discriminatory lending practices? Alternatively, were activist community groups responsible? While the agenda advocated by activist groups coincides closely with actual gains, the overlapping but differing stated objectives of regulators did not.