Regulating Bank Fees
Closed. This professor is continuing with Fall 2024 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Spring 2025.
The Biden administration has prioritized a crackdown on "junk fees"; which proliferate across industries in modern times. The banking industry has been specifically targeted by federal regulators, resulting in a sea change in bank business models. This project studies bank fees and their effect on consumers using a hybrid qualitative and quantitative approach. The goal is to inform policymakers about optimally targeting fee oversight to benefit the poorest and most underprivileged bank customers.
Role: Students will work on two tasks. One sub-group will undertake qualitative analysis through online data collection, phone calls or surveys, and will write up a report on their findings. Another sub-group will work on quantitative data analysis, downloading and cleaning public bank data and preparing tables and figures for publication.
Qualifications: Qualitative position - strong reading and writing skills, attention to detail, and an interest in law, economics, business, finance, or related topics.
Quantitative position - data cleaning and analysis skills, at least one intro level data course in Stata, R, or Python, and an interest in law, economics, business, finance, or related topics.
Please indicate in your cover letter whether you are applying to the qualitative or quantitative position.
Hours: to be negotiated
Related website: http://manishapadi.com
Social Sciences