Racial and ethnic differences across U.S. households in use of bank credit (e.g., credit cards) and nonbank credit (e.g., payday loans) are striking. We examine whether household characteristics and residential location can explain these differences. We use a novel dataset with information on previously unexplored factors, including income volatility, subjective attitudes about banks, geographic proximity to financial providers, and neighborhood population characteristics. We find that much of the raw disparities in credit use are attributable to observable household characteristics. Accounting for neighborhood population characteristics meaningfully reduces the disparities further. However, the residual racial and ethnic disparities remain large in magnitude. We show these disparities are not likely attributable to unobserved differences in households' family background, financial literacy, subjective attitudes, or credit scores. Instead, they are most likely attributable to unobserved supply-side factors, such as racial and ethnic differences in households' exposure to marketing. We conclude with implications for policy.

中文翻译：

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什么解释了信贷使用中的种族和民族差异？

美国家庭在使用银行信贷（例如信用卡）和非银行信贷（例如发薪日贷款）方面的种族和族裔差异是惊人的。我们研究了家庭特征和居住地点是否可以解释这些差异。我们使用一个新的数据集，其中包含有关以前未探索过的因素的信息，包括收入波动、对银行的主观态度、与金融提供者的地理接近度以及社区人口特征。我们发现信贷使用中的大部分原始差异可归因于可观察的家庭特征。考虑邻里人口特征可以进一步缩小差异。然而，剩余的种族和族裔差异仍然很大。我们表明，这些差异不太可能归因于家庭家庭背景、金融知识、主观态度或信用评分的未观察到的差异。相反，它们最有可能归因于未观察到的供应方因素，例如家庭接触营销的种族和民族差异。我们总结了对政策的影响。