I examine the role of third-party debt collectors in consumer credit markets. Using law enforcement as an instrument for the number of debt collectors, I find that higher density of debt collectors increases the supply of unsecured credit. A one-percent change in the number of debt collectors per capita leads to a 0.49% change in the average credit card balance and a 1.32% change in the average balance on non-credit card unsecured loans. There is also some evidence that creditors substitute unsecured credit for secured credit when the number of debt collectors increases. Higher density of debt collectors improves recoveries, which enables lenders to extend more credit. Finally, creditors charge higher interest rates and lend to a larger pool of borrowers when the density of debt collectors increases, presumably because better collections enable them to extend credit to riskier applicants.
A credit card authorization system (CAS) is one of the largest information systems used worldwide. CAS handles various types of transactions in large volume, such as purchase authentication, balance transfer, affiliated discount services, etc. One characteristic of CAS is its frequent update, and the maintainability of CAS is a crucial issue for credit card companies. Government frequently creates and enforces laws targeting the business of card companies.
In addition, due to heavy competition in the credit card market, card companies are pressed to offer new services or change existing services frequently. For example, the discount rate on gas purchase for freight vehicles changes many times a year due to gas price changes and discount rate changes of other card companies. These situations cause constant revisions of CAS, which increases the complexity of system maintenance. Thus, in order to manage frequent revisions, CAS should be designed to accommodate changing requirements easily and isolate effects of updates as much as possible.
Everyone (not just people who have been fired or fear they are about to be) reinvents themselves personally and professionally at some time or other...deliberately or inadvertently, strategically or impetuously. In fact, the author argues that professional reinvention is not only a good defense, but a great offense, pointing out how reinvention can help you take charge of your life as well as accommodate new work world realities. To support and encourage professional reinvention, the author couches the value of being able to transform yourself professionally in the context that health education itself is a profession that is constantly reinventing itself.
