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Stephanie Moulton

Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty and Research

Professor Stephanie Moulton’s areas of expertise include housing and consumer finance, policy implementation and management, and program evaluation. She is currently involved in research studying home equity borrowing and reverse mortgages for older adults, housing policies implemented by state housing finance agencies, and consumer debt for vulnerable populations. Dr. Moulton works directly with government and nonprofit organizations to evaluate and improve public policies and programs, with research funding from federal agencies and foundations including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Social Security Administration, Russell Sage Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

Dr. Moulton is currently co-editor for the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, and sits on the editorial boards for Public Administration Review and the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. She is a Visiting Scholar at the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, and a faculty affiliate with the University of Wisconsin’s Institute for Research on Poverty and Ohio State’s Center for Real Estate at the Fisher College of Business, and Institute for Population Research. She is a Research Fellow with the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Financial Security and a member of the Academic Research Counsel for the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center. She is the Professional Conduct and Inclusion Officer for the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association

Dr. Moulton earned her PhD from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. Prior to her academic career, Moulton worked in the nonprofit sector, designing and managing housing and community development programs at the local and state levels.

Inequality in high-cost borrowing and unemployment insurance generosity in US states during the COVID-19 pandemic
Human Nature Behavior
July 11, 2024

Stephanie Moulton and colleagues research the association between public benefits and the use of costly credit.

Mortgage Borrowing and Chronic Disease Outcomes in Older Age: Evidence from Biomarker Data in the Health and Retirement Study
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B
April 17, 2024

Stephanie Moulton examines the extent to which older adults use home equity to help manage the costs associated with a chronic disease in older age and how such borrowing can affect their ability to manage the disease. 

The Effects of Administrative Burden on Program Equity and Performance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in a Foreclosure Prevention Program
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
September 01, 2023

Stephanie Moulton's study examines the effects of reforms to reduce administrative burden in a foreclosure prevention program by streamlining the application process and reducing applicant wait times.

Economic Impacts of the COVID-19 Crisis: Evidence from Credit and Debt of Older Adults
Journal of Pension Economics & Finance
November 09, 2022

Stephanie Moulton documents the credit outcomes of older adults immediately before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

Managing the onset of a new disease in older age: Housing wealth, mortgage borrowing, and medication adherence
Social Science & Medicine
October 13, 2022

Stephanie Moulton examines the relationship between wealth and health. 

Credit Counseling and Long-Term Credit Outcomes: Evidence from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling’s Sharpen Your Financial Focus Program
September 21, 2022

Adrienne DiTommaso and Stephanie Moulton's study identifies the characteristics and long-term outcomes of consumers participating in nonprofit credit counseling, including those who do and do not enroll in debt management plans. 

Property Tax Compliance and Reverse Mortgages: Using Nudges to Improve the Market
National Tax Journal
March 01, 2022

Stephanie Moulton's study is based on a field experiment designed to increase the salience of property tax and insurance payments among a particularly vulnerable population, older adults who took out a reverse mortgage. 

Does Temporary Mortgage Assistance for Unemployed Homeowners Reduce Longer-Term Mortgage Default? An Analysis of the Hardest Hit Fund Program
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management
January 22, 2022

Stephanie Moulton and Stephanie Casey-Pierce analyze the longer-term effects of temporary mortgage payment subsidies on mortgage default.

The relationship of financial stress with the timing of the initial claim of U.S. Social Security retirement income
Journal of the Economics of Aging
January 04, 2022

Stephanie Moulton and Caezilia Loibl explore why some older adults claim Social Security benefits early and whether the level of an individual’s financial stress prior to the claiming decision is associated with a benefit claim at age 62.

Researching Homeownership Inequalities: A Life-Cycle Perspective
Cityscape
January 01, 2022

This article examines four specific research topics at different stages in the homeownership life cycle—from mortgage underwriting to post-purchase support, as proposed in the HUD learning objectives.

Food Insecurity Among Older Adults in the U.S.: The Role of Mortgage Borrowing
Applied Economics Perspectives and Policy
December 12, 2021

Stephanie Moulton assesses the impact of new mortgage borrowing on food insecurity among homeowners aged 65 and older.

The Role of Consumer and Mortgage Debt for Financial Stress
Journal of Aging and Mental Health
November 10, 2020

Caezilia Loibl and Stephanie Moulton examine the extent to which credit cards, other consumer debts, and mortgage debt increase financial stress.

How Federally Insured Reverse Mortgages Affect the Credit Outcomes of Older Adults
The Journal of Consumer Affairs
September 22, 2020

Stephanie Moulton's paper explores how extraction of home equity through the federally insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) affects the credit outcomes of older adults. 

Debt Stress and Debt Illusion: The Role of Consumer Credit, Reverse and Standard Mortgages
The Journals of Gerontology
September 18, 2020

Stephanie Moulton's study examines the relationship of debt stress and reverse mortgage borrowing and compares it to stress from standard mortgages and consumer debt.

Low-Income Homeownership and the Role of State Subsidies: A Comparative Analysis of Mortgage Outcomes
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management
August 05, 2020

Stephanie Moulton examines the role of state subsides on low-income home mortgages

A Dynamic Discrete Choice Model of Reverse Mortgage Borrower Behavior
International Economic Review
June 09, 2020

Stephanie Moulton examines the behavior of mortgage borrowers. 

Office

350D Page Hall

Expertise

Housing and Urban Economics; Consumer Finance and Financial Inclusion; Economic Inequality; Policy Implementation and Analysis