北大数字金融Workshop第十讲 |  Sumit Agarwal, NUS Business School

第十讲 Developer Accountability and Mortgage Access: Expanding Homeownership

时间：2025年 06月03日 周二 北京时间 下午14:00-15:30

地点/Venue：

线下：北京大学国家发展研究院承泽园校区132教室

线上：ZOOM会议（会议号: 897 2560 1400  密码: 938759）

主讲人/Speaker:    Sumit Agarwal

主持人/Host：       胡佳胤 Jiayin Hu

摘要/Abstract:

Homeownership plays a vital role in wealth creation and economic mobility, yet access remains constrained, particularly for marginalized groups. Over recent decades, real estate developers have emerged as key intermediaries in housing markets. We examine how regulatory oversight of developers affects homeownership by analyzing India’s Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA). By mandating escrow accounts, timely completion, and comprehensive disclosures, RERA creates institutional safeguards that replace the need to infer developer quality through size or reputation. We find that these regulatory guarantees increase mortgage origination, particularly among first-time borrowers and marginalized groups. While RERA’s compliance requirements increase operating costs of developers leading to some exits, its transparency mandates reduce incumbent advantages and lower entry barriers. Overall, this market transformation spurs affordable housing development beyond metropolitan areas, democratizing access to homeownership.

主讲人介绍/Biography:

Sumit Agarwal is Low Tuck Kwong Distinguished Professor of Finance at the Business School and a Professor of Economics and Real Estate at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He is the Managing Director of Sustainable and Green Finance Institute at NUS. He is also the President of Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research .

In the past, he has held positions as a Professor of Finance at the Business School, Georgetown University. Before that he was a senior financial economist in the research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and prior to joining the Chicago Fed, he was a senior vice president and credit risk management executive in the Small Business Risk Solutions Group of Bank of America.

Sumit’s research interests include issues relating to household sustainablity, financial institutions, household finance, behavioral finance, and real estate markets. He has published over one hundred and twenty five research articles in economics and finance journals among others. Additionally, he has co-written six books titled Why We Feel Blue When the Air is Grey , Kiasunomics 3, Introduction to Household Financial Management , Kiasunomics 2, Household Finance: A Functional Approach , and Kiasunomics , and also co-edited two collected volumes titled Impact of COVID-19 on Asian Economies and Policy Responses, and Household Credit Usage: Personal Debt and Mortgages.

He writes regular op-ed’s in the Straits Times and is featured on various media outlets like the CNA, BBC, CNBC, and Fox on issues relating to finance, banking, and real estate markets. Sumit’s research is widely cited in leading newspapers and magazines like the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, and the U.S Presidents Report to Congress. He also runs a Podcast on household financial decision making called Kiasunomics.