Benjamin Keys

Education

Ph.D. in Economics, University of Michigan, 2009. M.A. in Economics, University of Michigan, 2005. B.A. in Economics and Political Science, Swarthmore College, 2001.

Academic Positions Held

Assistant Professor of Real Estate, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 2016 – present.

Assistant Professor, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago, 2011 – 2016.

Other Positions

• Faculty Research Fellow, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2016 – present.
  
• Fellow, Center for Financial Security, University of WisconsinMadison, 2015 – present.
  
• CoDirector, Kreisman Initiative on Housing Law and Policy, University of Chicago, 2014 – 2016.
  
• Visiting Assistant Professor, Stern School of Business, New York University, Spring 2016.
  
• Economist, Division of Research and Statistics, Federal Reserve Board, Washington, DC, 2009 – 2011.
  

Professional Leadership

Associate Editor, Review of Financial Studies, 2016 – present. Associate Editor, Management Science, 2016 – present. Member, Academic Research Council, Housing Finance Policy Center, Urban Institute, 2015 – present.

Research

• Erica Blom, Brian Cadena, Benjamin Keys (Forthcoming), Investment over the Business Cycle: Insights from College Major Choice.Abstract
  
• Gene Amromin, Neil Bhutta, Benjamin Keys (2020), Refinancing, Monetary Policy, and the Credit Cycle, Annual Review of Financial Economics, 12, pp. 67-93.Abstract
  
• Caitlin Gorback and Benjamin Keys (Draft), Global Capital and Local Assets: House Prices, Quantities, and Elasticities.AbstractRelated
  
• Benjamin Keys and Jialan Wang (2019), Minimum Payments and Debt Paydown in Consumer Credit Cards, Journal of Financial Economics, 131 (3), pp. 528-548.Abstract
  
• Benjamin Keys (2018), The Credit Market Consequences of Job Displacement, Review of Economics and Statistics, Review of Economics and Statistics, 100 (3), pp. 405-415.Abstract
  
• Benjamin Keys, Marco DiMaggio, Amir Kermani, Tomasz Piskorski, Rodney Ramcharan, Amit Seru, Vincent W. Yao (2018), Monetary Policy Pass-Through: Mortgage Rates, Household Consumption, and Voluntary De-Leveraging, Prior Version (Keys, Piskorski, Seru, Yao) featured in NBER Digest, March 2015.
  
• Benjamin Keys, Devin G Pope, Jaren C Pope (2016), Failure to Refinance, Journal of Financial Economics, 122 (3), pp. 482-499.Abstract
  
• Erik Hurst, Benjamin Keys, Amit Seru, Joseph S. Vavra (2016), Regional Redistribution through the US Mortgage Market, American Economic Review, 106 (10), pp. 2982-3028.Abstract
  
• Neil Bhutta and Benjamin Keys (2016), Interest Rates and Equity Extraction during the Housing Boom, American Economic Review, 106 (7), pp. 1742-1774.Abstract
  

Knowledge @ Wharton

• Why the U.S. Housing Boom Isn’t a Bubble, Knowledge @ Wharton - 10/12/2021
  
• Mortgage Rates Are Low: Why Aren’t Minority Homeowners Refinancing?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 7/6/2021
  
• How to Strengthen Housing Safety Nets, Knowledge @ Wharton - 4/26/2021
  
• Why Mispricing the Risks of Sea Level Rise Could Prove Costly, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/3/2020
  
• How Foreign Purchases of U.S. Homes Impact Prices and Supply, Knowledge @ Wharton - 9/1/2020
  
• What Contributes Most to Consumer Financial Distress?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 4/10/2020
  
• Bye Bye, Barneys? Why Luxury Is the Latest Retail Casualty, Knowledge @ Wharton - 8/27/2019
  
• Private Mortgage Insurance Protection: Are We Any Safer Today?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 6/10/2019
  
• Preventing the Next Housing Crisis, Knowledge @ Wharton - 4/26/2019
  
• Whither the McMansion? Why Millennials Aren’t Buying, Knowledge @ Wharton - 4/18/2019
  
• Mortgage Rates Are Down – but Is the Housing Market Looking Up?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 2/26/2019
  
• The Real Estate Outlook for 2019: Waiting for Millennials?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 1/25/2019
  
• Will UltraFICO Help Expand Credit — or Create Greater Risk?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 10/26/2018
  
• The Student Debt Crisis: Could It Slow the U.S. Economy?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 10/22/2018
  
• The Real Causes — and Casualties — of the Housing Crisis, Knowledge @ Wharton - 9/13/2018
  
• Housing and Mortgage Markets May Have Recovered, but Risks Remain, Knowledge @ Wharton - 9/11/2018
  
• Why the U.S. Rental Market Is Increasing Inequality, Knowledge @ Wharton - 8/24/2018
  
• How Buyers Can Make the Most of a Tough Housing Market, Knowledge @ Wharton - 4/13/2018
  
• Why Millennials Are Moving the Needle on the Real Estate Market, Knowledge @ Wharton - 2/2/2018
  
• How the Republican Tax Plan Would Impact Real Estate, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/9/2017
  
• Why Automation Is Killing the Property Appraisal Business, Knowledge @ Wharton - 8/21/2017
  
• Has the U.S. Housing Market Recovered? It Depends on Where You Are…, Knowledge @ Wharton - 6/5/2017
  
• Is Canada on the Brink of a Housing Bubble?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 5/24/2017
  
• What’s Behind the Jump in FHA Mortgage Delinquencies, Knowledge @ Wharton - 2/23/2017
  
• Privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: How It Can Be Done Effectively, Knowledge @ Wharton - 1/9/2017
  
• The Peril of Making Minimum Payments on Credit Card Debt, Knowledge @ Wharton - 12/26/2016
  

Awards and Honors

• Wharton Teaching Excellence Award, 2020
  
• Wharton Teaching Excellence Award, 2019
  
• Wharton Teaching Excellence Award, 2018