Research and Applications
PERC is a non-profit organization dedicated to finding Information Solutions for Development Challenges worldwide. Going beyond the standard think tank model of solely carrying out research and producing reports, our staff develops real-world applications and works with policy makers at all levels to bring about the change we seek.
Find out more: About PERC
Serving the Missing Middle
PERC's mission is to serve the Missing Middle, the almost four billion people above the global poverty line who do not have access to affordable mainstream credit, by utilizing a new type of economic development: information-led development.
Find out more: Information-Led Development, Who are the missing middle?
Overcoming the Catch-22
Up to 70 million Americans are excluded from the financial mainstream because of the Credit Catch-22: you need to have a history of debt to get credit. PERC's Alternative Data Initiative has already helped many Americans overcome this Catch-22 and access affordable mainstream credit.
Find out more: Alternative Data Initiative
Smart Disaster Recovery
PERC has developed metrics for the Louisiana Recovery Agency and the World Bank to track small business recovery from natural disasters.
Find out more: Gulf Coast Economic Renewal
Helping Our Community
PERC is volunteering with the Durham Affordable Housing Coalition (DAHC) and area volunteers to develop applications and solutions to help the DAHC and other nonprofits better serve their missions, such as stemming the stream of foreclosures in the Durham, North Carolina.
Find out more: PERC Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Center
Donate to PERC
You can help support PERC's mission of global asset building by donating via Paypal. PERC is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization incorporated in the state of North Carolina. All donations are tax deductible.
Latest Publications
NCLC Supports the “3 Ps” of Lending: Pawn Shops, Predatory Lenders and Pay Day Lenders
Optimal Consumer Credit Bureau Market Structure in Singapore
Credit Reporting Customer Payment Data
This study examines the impact and benefits that accrue to consumers, lenders, and utilities and telecommunications firms when telecoms and utilities report customer payment information to credit bureaus.
Upcoming Events
Dr. Michael Turner will present at the National Association of Credit Management's Credit Congress 2010. Dr. Turner's presentation will take place on Monday, May 17 as a part of the International Utility Group Conference . For more information, or to register please see NACM's conference website at http://creditcongress.nacm.org/.
Dr. Michael Turner will serve on the keynote panel on April 16, 2010 at FICO World 2010 (formerly called InterACT). The panel, on Regulatory Revolution, will discuss the relationship between governments and financial services, caused (or exacerbated) by the economic crisis.
This panel is part of FICO's annual conference on decision management. For more information, visit their website at http://www.fico.com/en/Company/Events/FICO-World/Pages/default.aspx.
As part of PERC's mission to expand financial opportunity to individuals and small businesses worldwide, Dr. Michael Turner will speak to financial service providers from all over Africa regarding the value of comprehensive credit reporting at Compuscan Conference 2010 in Mombasa, Kenya. For more information, visit Compuscan's website at www.compuscan.co.za.
Got something to add?
PERC is working to build the best online resource for alternative data and information-led development on the Web. If you feel we missed any important resource, please e-mail Jaki Bradley at bradley@perc.net.
PERC's areas of expertise include:
Information-led DevelopmentPERC is a global leader in information-led development, the use of robust sets of information to enable economic development and asset building on a massive scale. See the project page for more information.
Alternative Data
Since 2003, PERC scholars have lectured policy makers on six continents -- from the World Bank to the United States Congress -- on the use of non-financial payment information, such as energy utility and rental payments, for credit scoring and asset building, also known as alternative data. For more information on this signature issue, please see the project page.
Financial Impacts of Disaster
PERC has pioneered the use of credit file and other data sets to track the economic effects of natural disasters and other exogenous shocks, as well as evaluating recovery efforts. Most recently, PERC examined economic recovery in the Gulf Coast after the 2005 hurriances.
Consumer Credit Access in the United States
Dataflows and Global Development
Projects in this category consider the interplay between technological and educational endowments, regulatory regimes, and economic development. Projects in this category have examined the relationship between a variety of factors—from cross-border data flows to credit reporting systems—and how these factors affect developing and developed world economic performance.
Data SecurityWorldwide Sourcing
These activities are focused on the phenomenon of worldwide sourcing (better known as offshore outsourcing) and examining its economic impact domestically and abroad. PERC places particular emphasis on how cross-border data flows, data security practices, and legal frameworks for data protection may affect worldwide sourcing patterns.
Media Concentration and Convergence
Data Privacy
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Please visit PERC's coalition for credit standards in the APEC region, the Asia-Pacific Credit Coalition.