Time: 2023/03/09 (Thu.), 13:30 – 15:00 (Beijing Time)

Title:   Divorce and Credit: The Cultural Roots of Discrimination

Venue: Zhonghui Building 106

About the speaker:

戚树森现任厦门大学管理学院财务学系副教授、博士生导师、北京大学数字金融研究中心特约研究员。2017年获荷兰马斯特里赫特大学金融学博士学位并于同年加入厦门大学管理学院，本科就读于山东大学金融数学专业，硕士就读于山东大学和荷兰蒂尔堡大学金融学专业。研究领域为银行学和公司金融，在 Journal of International Business Studies, Review of Finance, Journal of Business Ethics, Financial Management, Journal of Financial Stability, World Development 等杂志发表论文十余篇。曾多次受邀访问世界各大金融监管机构，包括国际清算银行、欧洲复兴开发银行、英国央行、德国央行、匈牙利央行、印度央行等。

Abstract:

Where does financial discrimination originate from? Analyzing the retail loan portfolio of a representative bank, we find no significant difference in the probability of default between divorcees and others, but do find evidence for taste-based discrimination. Divorcees pay 5.8 basis points more in interest than non-divorced peers. This discrimination is greater in regions where clan culture is more dominant, and among loan officers who are male, are older, and have been longer on the job. Such discrimination is reduced if the loan officers are better educated and if competition in the local banking market is fiercer. Overall, this paper is one of the first studies to tie financial discrimination to cultural origins.