Kenneth A. Snowden, Ph.D.
Professor
Economics
Bryan School of Business
snowden@uncg.edu
Academic/Professional Background
Professional Interests
Degrees Attained
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Economic History, 1983
M.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Economics, 1980
B.S. East Tennessee State, Economics, 1976
Memberships
Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2010-2013
American Economic Association, 1988-2013
Economic History Association, 1988-2013
Teaching
Teaching Activities
Course Redesign (Existing)
2007 - Course Redesign (Existing). I reformulated the focus of ECO 646 by splitting the course into "Old" and
"New" Approaches rather than by topics.
2005 - Course Redesign (Existing). Implemented three structured writing assignments in ECO 694 Literature
Review to lead to completed first draft (12-15 pages) before class ends.
2004 - Course Redesign (Existing). Taught ECO/HIS 518 for the first time as a speaking and writing intensive
course.
2004 - Course Redesign (Existing). Expanded section on empirical analysis of economic growth in ECO 646.
2004 - Course Redesign (Existing). Expanded number and complexity of web exercises and web-based paper
assignments in ECO 327.
Doctoral Exam Preparation/Grading
2012 - Doctoral Exam Preparation/Grading. Organized and administered PhD qualifying examinations in
Microeconomics and Econometrics.
2011 - Doctoral Exam Preparation/Grading. Organized and administered PhD qualifying examinations in
Microeconomics and Econometrics.
2010 - Doctoral Exam Preparation/Grading. Organized and administered PhD qualifying examinations in
Microeconomics and Econometrics.
2009 - Doctoral Exam Preparation/Grading. Organized and administered PhD qualifying examinations in
Microeconomics and Econometrics. January 2009 and August 2009.
2008 - Doctoral Exam Preparation/Grading. Supervised preparation, administration and grading of doctoral
comprehensive exams in theory and econometrics, and arranged 1 PhD Qualifying examination.
2007 - Doctoral Exam Preparation/Grading. Supervised preparation, administration and grading of doctoral
comprehensive exams in theory and econometrics, August 2007.
2006 - Doctoral Exam Preparation/Grading. Supervised Administration of PhD Econometrics Core Exam:
January 2006
2005 - Doctoral Exam Preparation/Grading. Supervised Writing and Preparation of PhD Comprehensive
Examinations in Theory and Econometrics in August 2005
Course (New) - Creation/Delivery: Conventional
2006 - Course (New) - Creation/Delivery:
(4 hours)
2006 - Course (New) - Creation/Delivery:
Economics (3 hours)
2005 - Course (New) - Creation/Delivery:
Information.
2004 - Course (New) - Creation/Delivery:
of the first year PhD course sequence.
Conventional. New Doctoral Course: ECO 774 Financial Economics
Conventional. New Doctoral Course: ECO 797 Seminar in Empirical
Conventional. Taught new doctoral course: ECO 755 Economics of
Conventional. Convened and led six sessions on the implementation
Program Assessment Projects
2013 - Program Assessment Projects. Supervised and Documented Assurance of Learning Processes for MA
and PhD Programs in Economics
2012 - Program Assessment Projects. Supervised and Documented Assurance of Learning Processes for MA
and PhD Programs in Economics
2011 - Program Assessment Projects. Supervised and Documented Assurance of Learning Processes for MA
and PhD Programs in Economics
2010 - Program Assessment Projects. Supervised and Documented Assurance of Learning Processes for MA
and PhD Programs in Economics
2009 - Program Assessment Projects. Supervised and Documented Assurance of Learning Processes for MA
and PhD Programs in Economics
2008 - Program Assessment Projects. Assisted in writing the Departmental Report, prepared materials and
conducted analysis for external review of Departmental Programs.
2008 - Program Assessment Projects. Developed Assurance of Learning Models for MA and PhD Programs
2006 - Program Assessment Projects. Coordinated 6 meetings for faculty review of MA and PhD
Committees-April/May 2006
2006 - Program Assessment Projects. Wrote and supervised distribution of MA Alumni Survey (71 recent
graduates targeted/44 responses received).
2006 - Program Assessment Projects. Prepared Proposed Revisions of MA and PhD programs for Faculty
Consideration August 2006 (Based on faculty feedback and Survey of MA Alumni)
2006 - Program Assessment Projects. Wrote and Submitted Curriculum Proposals for Major Revisions to MA
and PhD Programs (27 course revisions; major program changes) August-October 2006
2005 - Program Assessment Projects. Coordinated separate meetings with MAs and PhD students to evaluate
graduate program structure, teaching and effectiveness.
Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD)
2013 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 12 students. PhD Academic Advisor for 12 continuing
students; course selection; doctoral committee assignments, programs of study.
2013 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 28 students. MA advisor: 19 continuing and 9 new students:
Course selection, programs of study, degree audits, graduation clearances, academic appeals
2012 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 42 students. MA advisor: 17 continuing and 19 new
students: Course selection, programs of study, degree audits, graduation clearances, academic appeals
2012 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 13 students. PhD Academic Advisor for 13 continuing
students; course selection; doctoral committee assignments, programs of study.
2011 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 42 students. MA advisor: 18 continuing and 24 new
students: Course selection, programs of study, degree audits, graduation clearances, academic appeals
2011 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 13 students. PhD Academic Advisor for 9 continuing and 4
new students; course selection; doctoral committee assignments, programs of study.
2010 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 40 students. MA advisor: 20 continuing and 18 new
students: Course selection, programs of study, degree audits, graduation clearances, academic appeals
2010 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 14 students. PhD Academic Advisor for 12 continuing and 2
new students; course selection; doctoral committee assignments, programs of study.
2009 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 13 students. PhD Academic Advisor for 11 continuing and 2
new students; course selection; doctoral committee assignments, programs of study.
2009 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 38 students. MA advisor: 18 continuing and 20 new
students: Course selection, programs of study, degree audits, graduation clearances, academic appeals
2008 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 12 students. PhD Academic Advisor for 10 continuing and 2
new students; course selection; doctoral committee assignments, programs of study.
2008 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 28 students. MA advisor: 8 continuing and 20 new students:
Course selection, programs of study, degree audits, graduation clearances, academic appeals.
2007 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 26 students. MA advisor: 18 continuing and 10 new
students: Course selection, programs of study, degree audits, graduation clearances, academic appeals.
2007 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 14 students. PhD Academic Advisor for 10 continuing and 4
new students; course selection; doctoral committee assignments, programs of study.
2006 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 10 students. PhD Academic advisor: 5 continuing, 5 new:
Preparation of Plans of Study and Coordination of Assemby of Dissertation Committees
2006 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 41 students. MA Advisor: 23 continuing, 18 new: Course
Scheduling, Preparation of Plans of Study, Degree Audits and Graduation Clearance
2005 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 15 students. Principal Advisor for 15 Second Year
2005 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 6 students. Principal Advisor for 6 Continuing PhD students
2005 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). 24 students. Principal Advisor for 24 First Year MAs
2004 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). Principal advisor to 19 full-time 2nd Year students. Principal
advisor to 17 full-time 1st year students.
2004 - Student Assign-Students Advised (GRAD). Principal advisor to 8 first year students.
Student Assign-Supervised Research (GRAD)
2006 - Student Assign-Supervised Research (GRAD). 26 students. Assigned and Coordinated Faculty Review of
M.A. Literature Reviews
2005 - Student Assign-Supervised Research (GRAD). 16 students. Assigned and Coordinated Faculty Review of
16 M.A. Lit Reviews
2004 - Student Assign-Supervised Research (GRAD). 17 students. Assigned and coordinated faculty review of
17 M.A. literature reviews.
Thesis / Dissertation Committee - Chair
2012 - Thesis
2012.
2011 - Thesis
2010 - Thesis
2009 - Thesis
2008 - Thesis
2007 - Thesis
2006 - Thesis
2005 - Thesis
Wagner
/ Dissertation Committee - Chair. 1 student. Steve Wagner--Thesis completed Graduation Dec
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Committee
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Committee
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Chair.
Chair.
Chair.
Chair.
Chair.
Chair.
Chair.
1 student. Steve Wagner
1 student. Steve Wagner
1 student. Steve Wagner
1 student. Steve Wagner
Steve Wagner
Steve Wagner
Served as Chair for David Black, Richard DePolt, Steve
Thesis / Dissertation Committee - Member
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2005
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Committee
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Member.
Member.
Member.
Member.
Member.
Member.
1 student. Gray Kimbrough
1 student. Grey Kimbrough
1 student. Grey Kimbrough
1 student. Brant Morefield
1 student. Grey Kimbrough
For Christian Gregory and Richard Lord.
2005 - Thesis / Dissertation Committee - Member. For Christian Gregory and Richard Lord.
Other Teaching Activities
2013 - Other Teaching Activities. Assisted Department chair in setting gradaute teaching assignments,
schedules and graduate academic planning.
2013 - Other Teaching Activities. Met with consultant and Staff in summer 2013 to develop marketing
strategy for MA program.
2013 - Other Teaching Activities. I hired 10 undergraduate students during 2013 to work on my NSF-funded
grant on the development of the US home mortgage marekt in the 1920s and 1930s. These studetns had to
be trained and supervised as they loaded balance sheet data from primary sources (state produced annual
reports) for more than 7,000 Building & Loan Associations.
2013 - Other Teaching Activities. I hired 3 MA students during 2013 to work on my NSF-funded grant on the
development of the US home mortgage marekt in the 1920s and 1930s. These students had to be trained to
supervise undergraduates loading the data and so that they coiuld develop and build the data bases contining
the data.
2013 - Other Teaching Activities. Administered and organized MA Comprehensive examinations in Economic
Theory and Econometrics in January and May 2013. Prepared and disseminated guide to January 2014 MA
comprehensive examination in December 2013.
2012 - Other Teaching Activities. Assisted Department chair in setting gradaute teaching assingments,
schedules and grdauate academic planning.
2012 - Other Teaching Activities. Administered and organized MA Comprehensive examinations in Economic
Theory and Econometrics.
2011 - Other Teaching Activities. Administered and organized MA Comprehensive examinations in Economic
Theory and Econometrics.
2011 - Other Teaching Activities. Assisted Department chair in setting gradaute teaching assingments,
schedules and grdauate academic planning.
2010 - Other Teaching Activities. Assisted Department chair in setting graduate teaching assignments,
schedules and graduate academic planning.
2010 - Other Teaching Activities. Administered and organized MA Comprehensive examinations in Economic
Theory and Econometrics. Wrote and graded Comprehensive examination in Macroeconomics.
2009 - Other Teaching Activities. Administered and organized MA Comprehensive examinations in Economic
Theory and Econometrics. Wrote and graded Comprehensive examination in Macroeconomics.
2009 - Other Teaching Activities. Administered, wrote and submitted curricular program revisions to the
Applied MA program, The PhD program and the combined MA/PhD program.
2009 - Other Teaching Activities. Arranged, coordinated and hosted on campus MA Alumni visits from: Hugh
Gilbert (VP Bank of America) amd Jeremy Bray (Senior Reserach Associate RTI).
2009 - Other Teaching Activities. Assisted Department chair in setting gradaute teaching assingments,
schedules and grdauate academic planning.
2008 - Other Teaching Activities. Supervised and participated in preparation, administration and grading of
MA comprehensive examination in econometrics and theory, Janury and May 2008.
2008 - Other Teaching Activities. Assisted Department chair in setting gradaute teaching assingments,
schedules and grdauate academic planning.
2008 - Other Teaching Activities. Coordinated and hosted MA Alumni Night: Jacob Jez (Dunn-Humby), Elif
Cetin(nee Cavus) (BOA), Olga Khavjou (RTI).
2008 - Other Teaching Activities. Conducted structured program evaluation interviews with MA and PhD
students in May and December.
2008 - Other Teaching Activities. On campus recruiting vists to UNC Asheville
2007 - Other Teaching Activities. Coordinated summer research grant applications for five PhD students.
2007 - Other Teaching Activities. Conducted structured program evaluation interviews with MA students in
May and December.
2007 - Other Teaching Activities. Coordinated and hosted MA Alumni Night: Simran Narang (Republic
Mortgage), Brad Barneycastle (Wachovia), Altijani Hussin (RTI).
2007 - Other Teaching Activities. Coordinated on campus employer visits from United Guaranty, Republic
Mortgae and BOA
2007 - Other Teaching Activities. Assisted Department chair in setting gradaute teaching assingments,
schedules and grdauate academic planning.
2007 - Other Teaching Activities. Supervised and participated in preparation, administration and grading of
MA comprehensive examination in econometrics and theory, Janury and May 2007.
2007 - Other Teaching Activities. On campus recruiting vists to UNC Asheville
2006 - Other Teaching Activities. On Campus Grad recruiting visits: ASU and UNC Asheville
2006 - Other Teaching Activities. Conducted series of 5 summer meetings as a PhD research seminar (May
31-June 28).
2006 - Other Teaching Activities. Coordinated 2006 MA Alumni Night (Laura Gelo, Richard Howarth, Julia
Righikova)
2006 - Other Teaching Activities. Coordinated On-Campus Employer Visits for MAs--Lowe's, United Guaranty
2006 - Other Teaching Activities. Edited and Updated Graduate Bulletin descriptions for courses and programs
2006 - Other Teaching Activities. Assisted Department Chair in setting graduate teaching assignments,
schedules and sequences
2006 - Other Teaching Activities. Supervised Preparation, Administration and grading of MA Comprehensive
Exams January and May 2006
2006 - Other Teaching Activities. Coordinated and wrote supporting letters for 3 successful Excellence
Fellowships applications for PhDs ($18K each, only one accepted) and 5 graduate summer research graduate
assingments (total of $6,500).
2005 - Other Teaching Activities. Coordinated 2005 M.A. Alumni Night (Bela Bapat, Brandon Langley, Mike
Kunz).
2005 - Other Teaching Activities. Supervised Writing, Preparation and Administration of MA Comprehensive
Examinations in January and May 2005
2005 - Other Teaching Activities. Assisted Department Chair in setting the graduate course teaching
assignments, schedules and sequence.
2005 - Other Teaching Activities. Reviewed syllabi and acted as resource for faculty who were implementing
changes in graduate coursework. These involved assisting existing faculty teaching new courses (ECO 731,
732, 756, 763, 771, 772, 773).
2005 - Other Teaching Activities. Edited and updated Graduate Bulletin descriptions for courses and
programs.
2005 - Other Teaching Activities. Coordinated On-Campus Visitors from four corporations to discuss job
opportunities with, and to recruit, MA students (Accenture, HSBC, United Guaranty, Republic Mortgage).
2004 - Other Teaching Activities. Edited and updated Graduate Bulletin descriptions for courses and
programs.
2004 - Other Teaching Activities. Coordinate, convened and helped grade MA Comprehensive Exam (Jan 04,
May 04, Jul 04, Dec 04, Jan 05).
2004 - Other Teaching Activities. Assisted Department Chair in setting the graduate course teaching
assignments, schedules and sequence.
2004 - Other Teaching Activities. Reviewed syllabi and acted as resource for faculty who were implementing
changes in graduate coursework. These involved assisting new faculty teaching existing courses (ECO 641,
644), existing faculty teaching redesigned courses (ECO 643), and new and existing faculty teaching new
courses (ECO 741, 751, 752, 761, 762).
Intellectual Contributions
Refereed Journal Articles
Rose, J. & Snowden, K. A. (2013). The New Deal and the origins of the modern American real estate loan
contract. Explorations in Economic History, 50 (4), 18.
Snowden, K. A. & Courtemanche, C. (2011). Repairing a Mortgage Crisis: HOLC Lending and its Impact on
Local Housing Markets. Journal of Economic History.
Snowden, K. A. (2010). Covered Farm Mortgage Bonds in the Late Nineteenth Century. Journal of Economic
History, 70 (4), 29.
Allen, S. D. & Snowden, K. A. (2010). The Implementation of a Terminal Master's Program in Applied
Economics. Journal of Economics and Finance Education.
Economics. Journal of Economics and Finance Education.
Books
Fishback, P., Rose, J., & Snowden, K. (2013). Well Worth Saving: How the New Deal Safeguarded Home
Ownership. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [Status: Published] [Scope: Basic Book]
Description: Well Worth Saving tells the story of the disastrous housing market during the Great
Depression and the extent to which an immensely popular New Deal relief program, the Home
Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC), was able to stem foreclosures by buying distressed mortgages
from lenders and refinancing them. Drawing on historical records and modern statistical tools, Price
Fishback, Jonathan Rose, and Kenneth Snowden investigate important unanswered questions to
provide an unparalleled view of the mortgage loan industry throughout the 1920s and early ’30s.
Combining this with the stories of those involved, the book offers a clear understanding of the HOLC
within the context of the housing market in which it operated, including an examination of how the
incentives and behaviors at play throughout the crisis influenced the effectiveness of policy.
More than eighty years after the start of the Great Depression, when politicians have called for similar
programs to quell the current mortgage crisis, this accessible account of the Home Owners’ Loan
Corporation holds invaluable lessons for our own time.
Book Chapters
Refereed
Snowden, K. A. (2008). What Can History Tell Us About the Crisis in Mortgage Securitization?. Financial
History. New York: Museum of American Finance. [Status: In Press]
Description: I revisit the history of mortgage securitization in this article with a spotlight on features
of past failures that are most closely related to elements of our current crisis. To do so I focus on
three failed attempts to import European-style mortgage banking to the U.S. before 1900 and two
distinctly American innovations that brought securitization to residential and commercial mortgage
markets in the 1920s.
Refereed
Snowden, K. A. (2010). The Anatomy Of A Residential Mortgage Crisis: A Look Back to the 1930s. In Press, In
Lawrence Mitchell (Ed.), The Panic of 2008: Causes, Consequences and Proposals for Reform (pp. 32
(submitted)). Edward Elgar. [Status: InPress]
Description: Looking back to the 1930s provides the opportunity to examine one severe mortgage
crisis as we live through another. This paper examines the development of the residential mortgage
market during the 1920s, the institutional disruptions that occurred in the 1930s and the policy
response of federal and state governments. The crisis reshaped the structure and development of
the residential mortgage market and led to a postwar system in which portfolio lenders dominated
both local and interregional markets. Some pre-1930 innovations--mortgage insurance and
high-leverage, affordable loans--were written into federal programs and became part of the new
system. But early experiments and proposals for securitization did not survive the 1930s and the
implementation of this innovation was delayed for forty years.
Allen, S. D. & Snowden, K. A. (2009). A Differentiated Model of Doctoral Training in Economics. In Richard
Cebula (Ed.), Expanding Teaching and Learning Horizons in Economic Education. New York: Nova Science.
[Status: Published]
Description: This chapter describes a new Ph.D. program that trains only labor, health and public
economists that was developed in response to calls from teh COGEE for greater differentiation in
Ph.D. programming. The decisions regarding curricular content and structure are explained as well as
the two curricular innovations that implemented these decisions and doctoral core designed
specifically for applied microeconomists and an innovative sequence of courses to train students in
applied research methods, data manipulation and communication. This differentiated Ph.D. program
is integrated with a professionally-oriented M.A. in Applied Economics, and the chapter explains how
these two programs are effectively combined. CONTRIBUTION: Snowden 80%, Allen 20%.
COUNTED in 2009.
Snowden, K. A. (2008). Construction, Housing, and Mortgages. Historical Statistics of the United
States--Millenial Edition. Cambridge University Press. [Status: Published]
Description: This solo-authored chapter represents a significant contribution to a highly-regarded
five-volume, compilation of data and data sources by Cambridge University Press that serves as a
standard academic reference; given its academic value and significance this chapter was accepted as
a refereed IC in 2008 and counted as the equivalent of a high quality PRJ.
Construction is the fabrication of new buildings and structures or the substantial modification of those
that were previously built. These activities are ordinary, everyday features of our landscape - houses
are built, neighborhood schools are renovated, shopping complexes take shape, industrial plants are
erected, and roads are improved. Buildings and structures are familiar because they represent the
basic physical infrastructure used to house and to move all persons, goods, and services. The
statistics presented in this chapter document the role that construction has played in the American
economy for more than a century. The first two groups of tables include series that measure
aggregate construction and its major components (Tables Dc1-255 and Dc256-509). In the last two
sections of the chapter, the focus is sharpened to residential housing and series that document how
we have built, occupied, owned, and financed this most enduring symbol of the American Dream
(Tables Dc510-902 and Dc903-1288). The goal is to present historical series related to construction,
housing, and mortgages, and to connect these series to similar data from the modern period. Along
these lines, a special focus of this chapter is to connect the official 'value-in-place' construction
output series that are currently compiled by the U.S. Bureau of the Census to their pre-1964
counterparts that are no longer updated or supported by the Bureau. The last section of this essay
provides an overview of this issue.
Snowden, K. A. (2003). The Transition from Building and Loan to Savings and Loan, 1890-1940. In S. L.
Engerman, P. T. Hoffman, J. L. Rosenthal, & K. L. Sokoloff (Eds.), Finance, Intermediaries, and Economic
Development. Cambridge University Press. [Status: Published]
Cases
Snowden, K. A. (2010). 'The Anatomy Of A Residential Mortgage Crisis: A Look Back To the 1930s.
VoxEU.org. VoxEU.org. [Status: Published]
Description: Note: Vox.org is a policy portal set up by the Centre for Economic Policy Research
(www.CEPR.org) in conjunction with a consortium of national sites. Vox aims to promote
research-based policy analysis and commentary by leading scholars. The intended audience is
economists in governments, international organisations, academia and the private sector as well as
journalists specializing in economics, finance and business. Assistance for the Centre's work on Vox
has been provided by the European Union, through its programme of support for bodies active at the
European level in the field of active European citizenship.
My artice was published Sept. 10, 2010. It currently has 5025 hits.
Refereed Presentations
International
Snowden, K. A. (2012, July). The New Deal and the Origins of the Modern American Real Estate Loan
Contract. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts. [Status: Presented]
[Refereed]
Description:
The fully amortized mortgage loan contract is an important instance
of financial innovation in the U.S. residential mortgage market. We
examine the adoption of this contract from the 1880s to the 1930s by
building and loan (B&L) associations, the nation’s most important
institutional home mortgage lenders at the time. A chain of
complementary innovations by B&Ls gradually reduced the costs of
adopting amortization, leading to moderate use by the 1920s. During
the crisis of the 1930s, the poor performance of the traditional B&L
loan contract radically increased the benefit of adoption, as borrowers
demanded the new contract. The adoption examined here occurred
primarily in the conventional loan market because B&Ls, unlike other
lenders, generally avoided the use of the new FHA insurance
program. The New Deal may have had more impact through new
federal savings and loan charters, which incorporated many of the
complementary innovations that supported the new form of lending.
National
Snowden, K. A. & James, J. (2001, January). The Federalization of Building and Loans, 1927-1940: The North
Carolina Experience. ASSA Meetings, New Orleans, Louisiana. [Status: Presented] [Refereed]
Papers Under Review
Snowden, K. A. (2013). "NBER Research on Housing: 1935-1960," Revised and resubmitted to National
Bureau of Economic Research. [Activity: Conference Proceedings] [Discipline-Based Scholarship]
Description: The NBER played a central role in the academic discussion of residential construction
and mortgage finance that blossomed between 1935 and 1960 as the Bureau sponsored six distinct
research programs that produced thirteen major monographs examining the performance and
transformation of the housing and mortgage markets. The appendix to this essay provides a
complete enumeration of this work. When viewed collectively, this work provides a broad and deep
analysis of the development of the residential construction and financing before World War I, through
the boom and bust of the interwar years, and during a remarkable post-World War II expansion.
However, even the NBER research initiative had precedents, notably two federally-sponsored
investigations of nonfarm housing.
Snowden, K. A. (2012). "The New Deal and the Origins of the Modern American Real Estate Loan Contract,"
Revised and resubmitted to Explorations in Economic History. [Activity: Journal: Academic]
[Discipline-Based Scholarship] [Refereed and Publicly Available]
Description: The introduction of the direct reduction (fully-amortized) loan contract to the U.S.
residential mortgage market is an important instance of financial innovation. We describe the
adoption of this contract within the building and loan (B&L) industry beginning in the 1880s and
culminating in the 1930s. A long chain of complementary innovations at B&Ls gradually reduced the
costs of adoption, leading to moderate use by the 1920s. The poor performance of traditional
contracts during the crisis of the 1930s then radically altered the adoption calculus. At this point a
new system of federal savings and loan charters incorporated many of the innovations that had been
adopted within the small segment of the B&L industry that had introduced direct reduction lending by
the 1920s. The B&L transition in mortgage contracts occurred primarily in the conventional loan
market because B&Ls, unlike other lenders, generally avoided the use of the new FHA insurance
program.
Research and Curriculum Development Grants
Funded
2012: Snowden, K. A. The Development of Mortgage Banking in the US, 1870-1980, Principal Investigator,
Research Institute for Housing America Trust Fund.
Abstract:
This project will examine the development of the mortgage banking industry in the United Sates between
1870 and 1980. Mortgage bankers facilitated the growth of the national economy throughout this period by
mobilizing the savings of a diverse set of individual and institutional investors in order to finance a wide range
of farm, commercial and residential real estate projects. The broad scope of these activities generated a
complex pattern of historical development. Mortgage bankers sometimes operated within local markets, but
usually linked borrowers and investors located in different states and regions. Early on they sold short-term,
balloon mortgages to individual investors, but eventually some mortgage bankers used correspondent
relationships to sell large numbers of long-term, amortized loans to institutional investors. Along the way,
some mortgage bankers even funded loans themselves by issuing covered mortgage bonds. To provide a
comprehensive and integrated view of this wide-ranging process of development, the project will examine the
development of the industry across distinct sub-periods, will address some important gaps in the historical
record, and will identify the broad forces that shaped development within the industry across all time periods.
. [Status: Funded] [Grant/Gift Type: Research] [Source: External] [New/Continuing: New]
2012 [Year 2 of 3]: Snowden, K. A. Institutional Performance and Change during Boom and Bust: The
Residential Mortgage Market, 1920-1940, Principal Investigator, GOV-National Science Foundation (NSF). The
residential mortgage market contributed to the recent housing boom and bust from which the U.S. economy
is still recovering. Numerous reforms have been suggested and some implemented based on modern
perceptions of the effectiveness of New Deal interventions in housing finance during the mortgage crisis of
the 1930s. It is important to learn from this history, as the mortgage crisis of the 1930s shares some
important features with the current one. Both crises followed rapid expansions in mortgage lending that were
driven by innovations in mortgage contracts and funding channels; both crises caused widespread disruption
and dislocation in mortgage and housing markets; and during both crises the federal government
implemented policies that were designed to both speed recovery and to reshape the nation's residential
mortgage market. Despite its relevance, there has been little systematic examination of the mortgage boom
and bust of the 1920s and 1930s or the federal interventions that were implemented in response to the crisis.
To facilitate investigation of these issues, the project includes a large-scale data collection effort to build a
comprehensive record of mortgage lending at the institution level for the institutions that dominated the home
mortgage market--Building & Loan Associations, Mutual Savings Banks and Life Insurance companies. The
project will also produce detailed narratives of the contractual and regulatory environment within which these
intermediaries operated so that it can be widely used to investigate the causes of instability in the nation's
residential mortgage market and the impacts of policies that were implemented in response. [Status:
Funded] [Grant/Gift Type: Research] [Source: External] [New/Continuing: New]
2011: Snowden, K. A. Institutional Performance and Change during Boom and Bust: The Residential Mortgage
Market, 1920-1940, Principal Investigator, GOV-National Science Foundation (NSF). The residential mortgage
market contributed to the recent housing boom and bust from which the U.S. economy is still recovering.
Numerous reforms have been suggested and some implemented based on modern perceptions of the
effectiveness of New Deal interventions in housing finance during the mortgage crisis of the 1930s. It is
important to learn from this history, as the mortgage crisis of the 1930s shares some important features with
the current one. Both crises followed rapid expansions in mortgage lending that were driven by innovations in
mortgage contracts and funding channels; both crises caused widespread disruption and dislocation in
mortgage and housing markets; and during both crises the federal government implemented policies that
were designed to both speed recovery and to reshape the nation's residential mortgage market. Despite its
relevance, there has been little systematic examination of the mortgage boom and bust of the 1920s and
1930s or the federal interventions that were implemented in response to the crisis. To facilitate investigation
of these issues, the project includes a large-scale data collection effort to build a comprehensive record of
mortgage lending at the institution level for the institutions that dominated the home mortgage
market--Building & Loan Associations, Mutual Savings Banks and Life Insurance companies. The project will
also produce detailed narratives of the contractual and regulatory environment within which these
intermediaries operated so that it can be widely used to investigate the causes of instability in the nation's
residential mortgage market and the impacts of policies that were implemented in response. [Status:
Funded] [Grant/Gift Type: Research] [Source: External] [New/Continuing: New]
Working Papers
Fleitas, S., Fishback, P., & Snowden, K. A. (2013). "Market Exit and Institutional Change: B&L Mortgage
Contracts During the Great Depression," targeted for Explorations in Economic History.
Snowden, K. A. (2010). "Long-Run Impacts of Responses to the Mortgage Crisis of the 1930s in the U.S.,"
targeted for Never Waste a Good Crisis': The Social Policy Dimension of Regulatory Crisis Management in the
EU &.
Snowden, K. A. (2010). "The Anatomy of a Residential Mortgage Crisis: A Look Back to the 1930s, NBER
16244," targeted for The Panic of 2008: Causes, Consequences, and Implications for Reform.
Snowden, K. A. (2010). "Covered Farm Mortgage Bonds in the Late Nineteenth Century U.S., NBER 16242,"
targeted for Journal of Economic History.
Snowden, K. A. & Courtemanche, C. (2009). "The Impact Of The HOLC On Local Housing Markets In The
1930s."
Snowden, K. A. (2009). "Covered Farm Mortgage Bonds In The Late Nineteenth Century U.S.," targeted for
Journal of Economic History.
Snowden, K. A. (2007). "Mortgage Companies and Mortgage Securitization Before 1930*," targeted for
Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking.
Bu Saba, W. & Snowden, K. A. (2006). "Mortgage Loan Duration Before 1930 ."
Snowden, K. A. (2005). "Mortgage Companies and Mortgage Securitization Before 1930."
AbuSaba, N. & Snowden, K. A. (2004). "Mortgage Securitization Along the American Frontier."
Non-Refereed Presentations
International
Snowden, K. A. (2003, September). Mortgage Securitization along the 19th Century American Frontier.
Finance Research Seminar, Ivey School of Business, London, Ontario. [Status: Presented] [Non-Refereed]
National
Snowden, K. A. (2011, April). Repairing a Mortgage Crisis: HOLC Lending and its Impact on Local Housing
Markets. Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. [Status: Presented] [Non-Refereed]
Snowden, K. A. (2010). Repairing a Mortgage Crisis: HOLC Lending and its Impact on Local Housing Markets.
American Economic Association Annual Meetings, Atlanta, Georgia. [Status: Presented] [Non-Refereed]
Snowden, K. A. (2010). The Anatomy of a Residential Mortgage Crisis: A Look Back to the 1930s. NBER
Development of American Economy Program Meeting, February 2010, Cambridge, Massachusetts. [Status:
Accepted] [Non-Refereed]
Snowden, K. A. (2010, September). Covered Farm Mortgage Bonds in the Late Nineteenth Century U.S.
UCLA Conference on financial History, Los Angeles, California. [Status: Presented] [Non-Refereed]
Snowden, K. A. & Courtemanche, C. (2009). The Impact Of The HOLC On Local Housing Markets In The
1930s. ASSA, Atlanta, Georgia. [Status: Accepted] [Non-Refereed]
Description: During the U.S. housing crisis of the 1930s foreclosure rates rose to historically high
levels while homeownership rates and home prices fell dramatically. The New Deal's response was
direct and monumental. Between 1933 and 1936 the Home Owners' Loan Corporation refinanced the
mortgages of more than one million homeowners--or about 10% of the nation's
owner-occupiers--who were delinquent on their existing loans. By doing so the HOLC created
secondary markets for non-performing home mortgages held by thousands of building & loans,
commercial and savings banks, and insurance and mortgage companies. HOLC also restructured the
term, amortization features and even the outstanding principal balance on the loans. So besides
providing liquidity to the residential mortgage market, the HOLC offered centralized, low-cost, loan
renegotiation services during the height of the mortgage crisis. This paper examines the impact that
county-level HOLC activity had on home ownership rates and housing prices in 1940, and on the
recovery of home building activity between 1935 and 1940.
Snowden, K. A. (2009). Covered Farm Mortgage Bonds In The Late Nineteenth Century U.S. Invited
Seminar, New Brunswick, New Jersey. [Status: Presented] [Non-Refereed]
Snowden, K. A. (2009, November). REPAIRING A MORTGAGE CRISIS: HOLC LENDING AND ITS IMPACT ON
LOCAL HOUSING MARKETS. St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank: Workshop on Great Depression Housing and
Mortgage Crisis, St. Louis, Missouri. [Status: Accepted] [Non-Refereed]
Description: The Home Owners' Loan Corporation was created in 1933 at the depth of the worst
housing crisis in U.S. history. In just two years HOLC purchased and refinanced more than a million
delinquent mortgages from private lenders. The goal was to break the self-reinforcing cycle of
foreclosure, forced property sales and decreases in home values by creating a --bad bank to
absorb toxic mortgage assets and a patient lender to service risky mortgages that were written on
nearly one-tenth of the nation's owner-occupied homes. This paper uses county-level data to
characterize how HOLC loan activity was allocated across local housing markets, and how well it
worked. We find that HOLC activity was targeted on markets where economic and housing market
distress was great and that the intervention increased median nonfarm home values and
homeownership rates, but not new home building.
Snowden, K. A. (2009, April). The Anatomy Of A Residential Mortgage Crisis: A Look Back To The 1930s.
The Panic of 2008: Causes, Consequences and Proposals for Reform, Washington, DC, District of Columbia.
[Status: Presented] [Non-Refereed]
Description: Looking back to the 1930s provides the opportunity to examine one severe mortgage
crisis as we live through another. This paper examines the development of the residential mortgage
market during the 1920s, the institutional disruptions that occurred in the 1930s and the policy
response of federal and state governments. The crisis reshaped the structure and development of
the residential mortgage market and led to a postwar system in which portfolio lenders dominated
both local and interregional markets. Some pre-1930 innovations--mortgage insurance and
high-leverage, affordable loans--were written into federal programs and became part of the new
system. But early experiments and proposals for securitization did not survive the 1930s and the
implementation of this innovation was delayed for forty years.
Snowden, K. A. & Kimbrough, G. (2007, September). The Spatial Character of the Housing Depression in the
1930s. Economic History Association Annual Meetings, Austin, Texas. [Status: Presented] [Non-Refereed]
Description: The collapse and recovery of the residential housing sector in the 1930s is generally
examined at the aggregate level even though we know that a variety of the underlying forces
(overbuilding, uncontrolled land development, mortgage lending distress)had differential impacts
across space. In this paper we characterize variations in the depth of the housing collapse and the
across space. In this paper we characterize variations in the depth of the housing collapse and the
speed of its recovery across regions, among cities of different size and within the central city and
suburban rings of metropolitan areas. We do so first by examining information drawn from published
Census reports ont he composition of the housing stock, the structure of the residential construction
industry, homeownership rates and institutional distribution of home mortgage debt. We then test
use regression analysis to test our generalizations on annual residential building permit series from a
large sample of cities, and homoeownership patterns as measured in the 1920, 1930 and 1940
IPUMS. The goal is to clarify which forces were associated with the slow recovery of the housing
sector in the 1930s, and whether the differential impact of the housing depression altered the
nation's underlying spatial dynamics.
Snowden, K. A. (2001, March). The Federalization of Building and Loans, 1927-1940: The North Carolina
Experience. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. [Status: Presented] [Non-Refereed]
Research Reports
2013: Snowden, K. A., Mortgage Banking in the United States, 1870-1940., submitted to Research Institute
for Housing America.
Other Research Activities
Contribution to Practice
2008: , ., . My article below was cited in Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech 'The Future of
Mortgage Finance in the United States' presented at the UC Berkeley/UCLA Symposium: The Mortgage
Meltdown, the Economy, and Public Policy, Berkeley, California October 31, 2008. See
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20081031a.htm) Snowden, Kenneth A. (1995).
'Mortgage Securitization in Historical Perspective,' in M. Bordo and R. Sylla (eds.), Anglo-American Financial
Systems, Irwin, 1995, 261-98
Discipline-Based Scholarship
2011: , ., . I receive the grant (with co-PI Price fishback (Arizona)) in May 2011. In the past six months one
graduate student (John Muething) has been employed to supervise the data entry efforts of three UNCG
undergraduates and three more at the Univeristyof Arizona. A major effort this first year has been to locate
and digitize individual B&L association data from published state reports. The grant is scheduled to continue
through 2013.
2011: , ., . I spent considerable time with two co-authors (Jonathan Rose of the Federal Reserve Board and
Price Fishback of the Univeristy of Arizona) working on a manuscript length treatment of the New Deal's HOLC
mortgage refinancing program. A complete draft of the text will be submitted for review in February 2012 to
the University of Chicago Press.
2011: , ., . Each year the National Bureau of Economic Research sponsors one "University Research
Conference" on a topic of current interest. Snowden, along with Price Fishback (Arizona) and Eugene N. White
(Rutgers) were invited in 2011 to be the organizers. We solicited and selected the papers and are now editing
the conference volume. The conference met in Cambridge MA September 23-24, 2011.
2007: , ., . My article below was cited in Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech "Housing,
Housing Finance, and Monetary Policy" presented at Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's Economic
Symposium, Jackson Hole, Wyoming August 31, 2007 (see
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20070831a.htm) Snowden, Kenneth A. (1987).
"Mortgage Rates and American Capital Market Development in the Late Nineteenth Century," Journal of
Economic History, vol. 47 (no. 3), pp. 671-91.
Service
Service to the University
Department Assignments
Chair:
2005-2006: Economics Graduate Programs Committee : Curriculum, Recruiting, Placement and
Administration
2004-2005: Economics Graduate Committee: M.A. and Ph.D. Programs
2003-2004: Economics Graduate Committee: Graduate Committees
Department Assignments
Chair:
2005-2006: Economics PhD Program Committee
Department Assignments
Chair:
2005-2006: Faculty Recruiting Committee: One Senior, one Junior position
Department Assignments
Chair:
2005-2006: M.A. Program Committee
2003-2004 – 2004-2005: MA Committee
Department Assignments
Chair:
2010-2011: MA Program Committee
Department Assignments
Chair:
2006-2007 – 2007-2008: MA Program Committee
Department Assignments
Chair:
2008-2009 – 2009-2010: MA Program Committee: Curriculum, Recruiting, Financial Aid
2007-2008: Ph.D. Comprehensive Committee
Department Assignments
Chair:
2003-2004 – 2004-2005: PhD Committee
Department Assignments
Chair:
2010-2011: PhD Committee
Department Assignments
Chair:
2006-2007 – 2007-2008: PhD Program Committee
2006-2007: PhD Comprehensive Exams Committee
Department Assignments
Chair:
2008-2009 – 2009-2010: PhD Program committee: Curriculum, Recruiting, Financial Aid
Department Assignments
Member:
2013-2014: Faculty Recruitment Committee
Department Assignments
Member:
2012-2013 – 2013-2014: Graduate Program Committee
Department Assignments
Member:
2006-2007: Search Committe for Health Economics Position (open rank)
Department Assignments
Member:
2007-2008: Search Committee for Economics: Screen applications, Interview at Meetings, Coordinate
Campus Visits
Department Assignments
Member:
2007-2008: Search Committee for tenure or tenure-track Economics positions
School Assignments
Chair:
2012-2013 – 2013-2014: Graduate Program Committee
Member:
2010-2011: Graduate Program Committee
2005-2006: Bryan School Graduate Committee
School Assignments
Member:
2003-2004 – 2005-2006: Graduate Programs Committee
School Assignments
Member:
2009-2010: Graduate Programs Committee
School Assignments
Member:
2006-2007 – 2007-2008: Graduate Programs Committee
University Assignments
Chair:
2005-2006 – 2008-2009: Faculty Compensation
University Assignments
Chair:
2012-2013: Student Afairs Sub-Committee of GSC
2010-2011 – 2011-2012: Graduate Studies Committee: Set Agenda and run meetings
2009-2010: GSC--Policies & Procedures Subcommittee
2009-2010: Policies & Procedures Subcommittee--GSC
2008-2009: Policies & Procedures Sub-Committee--GSC
2006-2007: Faculty Senate Compensation Commitee: Faculty Salary, Benefits, Workloads
2006-2007: Faculty Senate Compensation Commitee: Faculty Salary, Benefits, Workloads
2005-2006: Faculty Compensation Committee: Faculty Salary, Benefits and Work Loads
Member:
2012-2013: Graduate Studies Committee
2011: Ad Hoc Recruiting committee for Gradaute Schooll Dean
2009-2010: Graduate Studies Committee: Policies & Procedures Sub Committee
2008-2009 – 2009-2010: Graduate Studies Committee
2007-2008: Faculty Search--Department of History
2003-2004 – 2004-2005: Faculty Senate Compensation Committee
University Assignments
Member:
2013-2014: Undergradaute Studies Committee: 8 meetings
University Assignments
Member:
2012: University Program Review Committee: Primary workload January-March 2012
Other Institutional Service Activities:
2012-2013: Organized, Developed and Presented Presentation on Use of Student Loans for Graduate
Students
2004-2005: UNCG Friends of Jackson Library : Convenor of book discussion group, January 2005.
State-wide Assignments
Member:
2009-2010: UNC Advisory committee on ORP: UNC-wide committee to review ORP fund performance and
make recommendations for deleting or adding funds.
2008-2009: UNC Optional Investment Retirement Advisory Committee: UNC-wide committee to review
ORP fund performance and make recommendations for deleting or adding funds.
2007-2008: UNC Optional Retirement Program Investment Advisory Committee: UNC-wide committee to
review ORP fund performance and make recommendations for deleting or adding funds.
2006-2007: UNC ORP Investment Advisory Committee: Reviewed ORP fund performance and Transition
to New ORP Program
Service to the Profession
Academic Conf: Discussant/Moderator/Panelist
2010: Economic History Association Annual Meetings, Evanston, Illinois. Discussed three papers
2007: Business History Annual Conference, Cleveland, Ohio. Chaired session and served as discussant for 3
papers on antebellum U.S. banking.
2005: Economic History Association Annual Meetings. Comments on Tim Guinnanne 'German Savings Banks'
2003: Economic History Association Meetings, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Comments on Caroline Fohlin,
'Financial Intermediation and Economic Development
Academic Conference: Discussant
2011: Southern Economic Association Meeting.
Academic Conference: Moderator / Facilitator
2013: International Cliometrics Conference Honolulu, June 2013.
Chair: Conference / Track / Program
Chair: Conference / Track / Program
2005: Economic History Association. Committee to select Jonathan Hughes Distinguished Teaching Award
2005: Economic History Association. Teacher's of Economic History Breakfast
2003 – 2004: Teacher's of Economic History Breakfast.
Reviewer - Article / Manuscript
2013:
2013:
2011:
2010:
2010:
2008:
2006:
2006:
2004:
Explorations in Economic History.
Journal of Economic History.
Journal of Economic History.
Economic Journal. 1 article
Journal of Economic History, greensboro, Virtual. refereed two articles
Journal of Economic History.
Economic History Association. Reviewed one manuscript
Enterprise and Society. Reviewed one manuscript
Journal of Economic History. Two manuscripts reviewed
Reviewer - Grant Proposal Related to Expertise
2006: Nartional Science Foundation. reviewed one proposal
Other Professional Service Activities
2006: US University. Evaluator for P&T candidate (to associate rank)
Service to the Community
Board Member
2010:
2009:
2008:
2007:
Advisory
Advisory
Advisory
Advisory
Commission on Trees, Board Member City Government Commission
Commission on Trees., City of Greensboro
Committee on Trees--City of Greensboro
Commission on Trees, City government board.
Chair of a Committee
2006: Lindley Park Neighborhood Association, Chair of Neighborhood Planning Commitee
2005: Lindley Park Neighborhood Association, Co-Chair Spring Garden Overlay Plan
Consulting with Community/Public Organization
2010: U.S. Senate Banking Committee, Testified on 'Covered Bonds: Potential Uses and Regulatory Issues'
Sept. 15, 2010
Positions Held in Civic Organizations
2003 – 2005: Lindley Park Neighborhood Association, Member Neighborhood Planning Committee Member
Executive Board Chair of Public Works Committee
Speech / Presentation at a Community Meeting
2010: Triad Chapter Real Estate Attorneys, Speech on 1930s Housing Crisis
2010: Rotary Club, Speech on Federal Reserve policy to Rotary Club
2009: Triad Chapter of American Society of Public Adminstrators, Speech on the impact of the 2009 stimulus
bill on city governments.
2008: Radio Interview, Interviewed on WERS radio(Emerson College)show You Are Here on HOLC Bailouts.
Show aired December 6, 2008.
2008: Triad Chapter of the National Association of Black Public Administrators, Impact of recession on
African-American unemployment and rates of home ownership.
Faculty Development
Academic/Professional Development Activities
Academic/Professional Development Activities
Research-Related Conference/Seminar
2007: Business History Annual Conference, Cleveland, Ohio.
2005: Cambridge, Massachusetts. Invited Participant--The New Comparative Economic History.
Professional Conference/Seminar/Workshops
2008:
2008:
2007:
2006:
2005:
2004:
2003:
2003:
Economic History Association Annual Meetings, New Haven, Connecticut.
American Economic Association Meetings, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Economic History Association Annual Meetings, Austin, Texas.
Boston, Massachusetts. American Economic Association Meetings .
Toronto, Canada. Economic History Association Meetings .
San Diego, California. American Economic Association Meetings.
Raleigh, North Carolina. Cliometrics Society Meetings.
Nashville, Tennessee. Economic History Association Meetings.
Honors-Awards-Grants
Last updated by member on 03-Feb-14 (06:38 PM)