Financial Media as a Money Doctor

UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY
Finance Department
Research Seminars in Finance

Phong Ngo

Topic: Financial Media as a Money Doctor: Evidence from Refinancing Decisions

Speaker: Phong Ngo, Australian National University

Venue: On campus | Face to face seminar in room CB08.08.002, Building 8, University of Technology Sydney, Australia (Map of campus) 

Abstract: We find that the viewership of business television raises the propensity of households to refinance their homes when doing so is financially advantageous. To estimate the effect of business TV, we exploit the staggered entry of Fox Business Network (FBN) into zip-codes across the U.S. Exposure to FBN is associated with a 7% increase in local refinancing volume in response to a 100 bps drop in mortgage interest rates. We confirm the media effect on refinancing by using an instrument for TV viewership, which exploits exogenous variation in the channels’ ordinal positions. The media influence is stronger for minority and lower-income applicants. Overall, business TV likely raises financial awareness and serves as a nudge against inertia.

Moderator: Jing Xu

Download paper

Seminar protocols:

  • The seminar will run for 45 minutes, followed by a 15 minute Q&A session
  • There will be a moderator for each seminar event, who will facilitate communication and resolve any issues
  • Participants can raise their hand to ask questions during the presentation. The moderator will then alert the speaker at the appropriate time and either ask the questions raised or they can ask the question directly to the presenter

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Co-ordinator: Kenny Phu

Enquiries: Duncan Ford

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