Amit Kumar

Assistant Professor of Finance
Singapore Management University

Amit Kumar | Assistant Professor of Finance at SMU
CV     SSRN

About Me

I am an Assistant Professor of Finance at Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University. I completed my Ph.D. in Finance from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Business School.

I am reachable at amitkumar@smu.edu.sg . The link to my official webpage is here:Link .

Working Papers

Know Thyself: Access to Own Credit Report and The Retail Mortgage Market [Job Market Paper]

Abstract
Borrowers may misestimate their probability of mortgage approval in the absence of precise signals of creditworthiness. Credit reports, which contain such signals, became easily accessible for all U.S. consumers since 2005, while it was already the case in seven states. A difference-in-differences strategy exploiting this change shows that pool quality of mortgage applicants improved as a result—approvals increased, whereas subsequent delinquencies decreased. These findings are consistent with a mechanism where under-estimators enter the applicant pool and over-estimators drop out, because easier access to credit reports reduces misestimation of one’s own probability of mortgage approval. Additional findings rule out supply-driven explanations.

Selected Conference Presentations: The Ohio State University 2022 Annual PhD Conference on Real Estate and Housing, University of Texas Austin Ph.D. Student Symposium 2020, AFA Ph.D. Poster Session 2021, ABFER 2021, AREUEA National Conference 2021, FMA Annual Meeting 2021 and Doctoral Consortium 2020, AFBC 2020, MFA 2022.

Coverage: The World Bank’s All About Finance Blog.

Doctoral Grant: Midwest Finance Association 2022.

Best Ph.D. Paper Awards: 15th Conference on Asia-Pacific Financial Markets. 11th Financial Markets and Corporate Governance Conference.

Do Women Receive Worse Financial Advice [Joint with Utpal Bhattacharya, Sujata Visaria, and Jing Zhao]

Revise and Resubmit at The Journal of Finance

Abstract
Trained undercover men and women posed as potential clients and visited all 65 local financial advisory firms in Hong Kong. We find that women are more likely than men to receive advice to buy only individual or only local securities. This effect is significant for financial planners, but not for securities firms. Women who signal that they are highly confident, highly risk tolerant, or have a domestic outlook, are especially likely to receive suboptimal advice. Our theoretical model interprets these patterns as an interaction between statistical discrimination and advisors’ incentives. Taste-based discrimination is unlikely to explain the results.

Coverage: Bloomberg.

Polluted Waters and Municipal Finance [Joint with Daisy Huang]

Abstract
Work in Progress.

Research Grant

HKUST Office of the Vice President for Research and Development Grant for the project entitled, “How does on-campus residence shapes students? An empirical investigation with lessons for programme design” [Team grant, with Kevin Tam and Sujata Visaria]

Academic Awards and Fellowships

  • Junior Scholars Program, AREUEA 2021.
  • Doctoral Travel Grant, AFA 2020.
  • Hong Kong Ph.D. fellowship scheme, Research Grant Council 2017–2020.
  • Gold Medal for Best All-Round Performance, Indian Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli 2015.

Amit Kumar
Room 4069. Lee Kong Chian School of Business
Singapore Management University. 50 Stamford Rd, Singapore 178899
Email: amitkumar@smu.edu.sg

Amit Kumar, Assistant Professor of Finance, SMU