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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 4 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

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.


Robin Varghese, Ph.D.

Director of International Operations and COO
Expertise::: Alternative Credit Score, Community Economic Development, Data Privacy and Security, Information Policy, International Economic Development

Dr. Varghese is a Senior Fellow and Research Director of the Political and Economic Research Council. He has worked extensively on issues of information privacy and security, data quality, credit reporting and credit reporting reform in the United States and abroad, media ownership, financial literacy and the use of non-financial data for widening credit access. Varghese has played a key role in research design the development of methodology for PERC's studies and has overseen PERC's research efforts in these areas. He is the co-author of many PERC studies on credit reporting and financial access. Varghese has worked on behalf of PERC with the Federal Trade Commission, the Government Accountability Office, and the offices of members of Congress on policy issues directly related to PERC's core research.

Dr. Varghese received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in political science, in comparative political economy. Prior to joining PERC, he worked as a senior researcher and Graduate Fellow at the Columbia Institute of Tele-Information (CITI) where he worked on issues of media concentration. Varghese has also worked for Institutional Investor Institute as a conference programmer, where he oversaw issues pertaining to the Y2K phenomenon and assessed survey results of the banks' and investment firms' technology policy. Varghese has published articles in top academic journals.

Asia-Pacific Credit Coalition

APCC is a PERC-managed coalition committed to promoting a regional standard for full-file, comprehensive consumer credit reporting to private credit bureaus within the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies. Please visit PERC's coalition for credit standards in the APEC region, the Asia-Pacific Credit Coalition

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Assessment of Small Business Aid and Needs in Louisiana Five Years After Hurricane Katrina: Overview of Case Studies – more info...
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Credit Reporting Customer Payment Data – more info...
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Economic Fairness Through Smarter Lending: Some Factors to Consider on the Eve of Brazilian Credit Reporting Reform – more info...
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Economic Impacts of Payment Reporting Participation in Latin America – more info...
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Financial Impacts of Disaster: What We Can Learn from Credit File Data – more info...
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Financial Inclusion through Credit Reporting: Hurdles and Solutions – more info...
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Give Credit Where Credit is Due: Increasing Access to Affordable Mainstream Credit Using Alternative Data – more info...
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Giving Underserved Consumers Better Access to the Credit System: The Promise of Non-traditional Data – more info...
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How Safe and Secure Is It? – more info...
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Information Sharing and SMME Financing in South Africa: A Survey of the Landscape – more info...
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Louisiana Small Businesses Five Years Post-Katrina: Assessing LDRF Program Impacts And Measuring Existing Needs – more info...
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On the Impact of Credit Payment Reporting on the Financial Sector and Overall Economic Performance in Japan – more info...
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Optimal Consumer Credit Bureau Market Structure in Singapore – more info...
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Recovery, Renewal, and Resiliency: Gulf Coast Small Businesses Two Years Later – more info...
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Roadmap to Reform: Lessons from around the world to guide consumer credit reporting reform in Australia – more info...
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The Economic Consequences of Credit Information Sharing – more info...
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The Fair Credit Reporting Act: Access, Efficiency and Opportunity - Part II – more info...
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The Impact of Provider- Identifiable Data on Healthcare Quality and Cost – more info...
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The Structure of Information Sharing and Credit Access: Lessons for Policy – more info...
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U.S. Consumer Credit Reports: Measuring Accuracy and Dispute Impacts – more info...
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You Score You Win: The Consequences of Giving Credit Where Credit is Due – more info...