Pricing with Consumer Switching Costs: Evidence from the Credit Card Market

The credit card market is a natural setting for investigating the relationship between pricing and consumer switching costs. I find, using a detailed panel of credit card issuers, that switching costs are an important influence on pricing for commercial banks. The results are stronger for commercial banks with risky customer bases, suggesting that there is a relationship between default and switching costs. Switching costs appear to have almost no influence on pricing for credit unions, a result that is consistent with their status as not–for–profit entities.     

Credit Unions: Fringe Suppliers or Cournot Competitors?

Recent work has demonstrated the competitive relationship between credit unions and banks in consumer financial services. One issue underlying the nature of competition between the two, however, concerns the most appropriate way to model their interactions.Two possible approaches are the dominant-firm price-leadership model and the generalized Cournot model. In the former model, credit unions act as fringe suppliers who are price-takers in a homogeneous product market. In the latter, they possess (limited) market power. Oneway to distinguish the two is by examining the impact of credit union market shares on their pricing, as the two models imply differing effects. Our results are more consistent with the ``credit unions as fringe suppliers' view. Using a pooled cross-section time seriesof 77 small local consumer lending markets throughout the U.S., each with 10 observations over 5 years, the focus is on a loan product ex ante thought to be sold in local markets, unsecured (non-credit card) loans. For this product, increasing credit union market sharesreduces credit union loan rates, consistent with a fringe supplier hypothesis.     

The choice at the checkout: Quantifying demand across payment instruments

Dramatic changes have occurred in the U.S. payment system over the past two decades, most notably an explosion in electronic card-based payments. This shift has led to a series of policy debates driven in part by consumers' choice of payment instruments. Using a new nationally representative survey, we transform consumer responses to open-ended questions into product rankings and estimate a characteristics-based rank-order logit model in order to quantify consumer substitution among payment methods. Our estimates are then used to conduct supply-driven and demand-driven counterfactual experiments in order to estimate market share and cost effects. From a counterfactual experiment in which merchants stop accepting credit cards, we predict merchant costs to decline substantially. Because merchants accept credit cards nonetheless, we regard our finding as evidence either that the credit card networks hold market power, or that merchants experience unmeasured intangible benefits from credit card acceptance. We also predict that contactless debit will take market share from cash, checks, and credit, and that the age/cohort effect alone is unlikely to cause debit card use to increase substantially over a 10-year period.     

Payment Systems and Interchange Fees

In a typical bank credit card transaction, the merchant's bank pays an interchange fee , collectively determined by all participating banks, to the cardholder's bank. This paper shows how the interchange fee balances charges between cardholders and merchants under imperfect competition. The privately optimal fee depends mainly on differences between cardholders' and merchants' banks, not their collective market power. In a non-extreme case, the profit-maximizing interchange fee also maximizes total output and producers' plus consumers' surplus. There is no economic basis for favoring proprietary payment systems, which do not need interchange fees to balance charges, over the cooperative bank card systems.     

重塑我国特色的企业信用管理制度模式

信用是现代市场经济的灵魂,而目前我国企业信用问题已成为严重影响经济发展的顽梗。本文通过阐述企业信用管理制度的重要作用,针对我国企业面临的信用困境找准信用建设的契合点,提出建立中国特色的企业信用管理制度系统模式的若干对策建议。     

Platform Competition With Cash-Back Rebates Under No Surcharge Rules

We analyze competing strategic platforms setting fees to a local monopolist merchant and cash-back rebates to end users, when the merchant may not surcharge platforms’ customers, a rule imposed by some credit card networks. Each platform has an incentive to gain transactions by increasing the spread between its merchant fee and user rebate above its rival's spread. This incentive yields non-existence of a pure strategy equilibrium in many natural environments. In some circumstances, a mixed strategy equilibrium exists where platforms choose fee structures that induce merchants to accept only one platform with equal probability, a form of monopolistic market allocation.     

基于模块化的银行卡产业价值创新研究：从价值链到价值群

以往关于模块化的应用研究主要集中于制造业,本文是模块化理论在金融服务业应用研究的一次尝试。本文认为,银行卡产业模块化的价值创新机理就在于实现了从价值链向价值群的价值创新系统转变。我国银行卡产业模块化价值创新应该从三个方面着手:一是在产品模块化创新层面,着重银行卡产品设计规则参与、产品创新和服务标准化;二是在企业模块化再造层面,着重银行卡业务组件模块化和组织管理模块化;三是在生产网络模块化层面,着重外包策略和网络联盟在实现模块价值创新中的重要作用。     

工业增长、信贷供求和货币政策调整

货币政策不能及时对经济发展出现的变化做出调整,不仅降低了货币政策实施的有效性,还产生了诸如流动性过剩等一系列问题。信贷市场的供求特征直接反映了实体经济的增长,因此,根据信贷市场的非均衡状态对货币政策进行相应调整的关键问题是如何有效地提取各阶段的信贷市场的供求特征信息。本文利用非均衡计量模型这一理论工具得出,我国信贷市场中确实存在着贷款过度需求的非均衡状态,主要表现为近年来贷款增长率始终处于下降并且严重滞后于工业产出需求的状态,同时紧缩性货币政策所导致的信贷供给约束更加强化了这一非均衡状态,并且已经影响到了工业实体经济的发展。货币政策调整除了考虑通胀和流动性过剩问题以外,还必须考虑信贷市场的非均衡状态,否则政策调整的目标将脱离实体经济的增长。     

建筑市场信用系统演进机理研究

建筑市场信用系统是一个复杂的社会经济系统,要素之间存在着非线性关系,具有遵循因果律、反直观性、多重反馈和惯性抵制性等特殊的动态演进特性.文章运用演化经济学和系统动力学的理论和方法,深入剖析了建筑市场信用系统的演化过程和演进路径,构建了系统演进动力的钻石结构模型,揭示了其演进机理,为建筑市场信用系统建设提供理论依据和政策支持.     

A Tale of Two Tensions: Balancing Access to Credit and Credit Risk in Mortgage Underwriting

Over the years 2000–2007, mortgage market underwriting conditions eased in response to public policy demands for increased homeownership. This easing of acceptable credit risk in order to accommodate increased access to credit, when coupled with the unanticipated house price declines during the Great Recession, resulted in substantial increases in delinquencies and foreclosures. The response to this mortgage market crisis led to myriad changes in the industry, including tightened underwriting standards and new market regulations. The result is a growing concern that credit standards are now too tight, restricting the recovery of the housing market. Faced with this history, policy analysts, regulators and industry participants have been forced to consider how best to balance the tension inherent in managing mortgage credit risk without unduly restricting access to credit. Our research is unique in providing explicit consideration of this trade‐off in the context of mortgage underwriting. Using recent mortgage market data, we explore whether modern automated underwriting systems (AUS) can be used to extend credit to borrowers responsibly, with a particular focus on target populations that include minorities and those with low and moderate incomes. We find that modern AUS do offer a potentially valuable tool for balancing the tensions of extending credit at acceptable risks, either by using scorecards that mix through‐the‐cycle and stress scorecard approaches or by adjusting the cutpoint—more relaxed cutpoints allow for higher levels of default while providing more access, tighter cutpoints accept fewer borrowers while allowing less credit risk.     

Foreclosure's Wake: The Credit Experiences of Individuals Following Foreclosure

While a substantial literature has examined the causes of mortgage foreclosure, there has been relatively little work on the consequences of foreclosure for the borrowers themselves. Using a large sample of anonymous credit bureau records, observed quarterly from 1999 through 2010, we examine the credit experiences of 330,000 borrowers before and after a foreclosure start. Our analysis documents the substantial declines in credit scores that accompany a foreclosure start and examines the length of time it takes individuals to return their credit scores to predelinquency levels. The results suggest that, particularly for prime borrowers, credit score recovery comes slowly, if at all. The lack of recovery appears to be driven by persistently higher delinquency rates on consumer credit (such as auto and credit card loans) in the years that follow their foreclosure start. Our results also indicate that the experiences of individuals whose mortgages entered foreclosure from 2007 to 2009 have followed a similar path to borrowers foreclosed earlier in the decade, though their postforeclosure‐start delinquency rates have been higher and, consequently, credit score recovery appears to be taking longer.     

Explaining the Credit Union Entry Decision,and Implications for Performance

Earlier research exploring rural bank entry decisions suggests that market size and its growth seem to be major explanatory factors. In addition, the role of leading bank holding companies is found to be important in stimulating entry of smaller rivals. This article finds that credit union entry responds in a similar way, and in addition that the state-level financial regulatory climate matters. An ordered-probit analysis of credit union numbers yields the intuitive result that credit unions possess little market power (even in rural markets where they might be expected to play a significant role), and what little there is can likely be eliminated by a third credit union in the market.      

Intermediating technologies and multi-group adoption: A comparison of consumer and merchant adoption intentions toward a new electronic payment system

Traditional technology adoption research has assumed a single adopting group. However, there are many settings in which multiple groups must jointly adopt an innovation in order for it to succeed. This is particularly true for new information technology innovations that mediate the relationship between two groups. For example, online exchanges (e.g., Freemarkets, GoFish) must attract both suppliers and buyers in order to be successful. The same is true for providers of hardware/software solutions for electronic data interchange and supply chain management. This article describes the phenomenon of multigroup adoption with a particular focus on applications within the financial services and retailing industries. Empirically, the article reports findings from a study that illustrates the importance of evaluating and managing multigroup technology adoption in the specific context of an in‐market trial of a new smart card‐based electronic payment system. Two distinct groups critical to the smart card's success are studied: consumers (who must decide to use the new card) and retailers (who must agree to adopt and use new technology needed to process smart card transactions). The study identifies which characteristics of the smart card innovation are most closely linked to intention to adopt for each group, and examines how these key characteristics differ by group. Perceptual data were collected via a mail survey from consumers and merchants living in the city where a one‐year market trial of the new card was taking place. Four separate sampling frames were established for both consumers and merchants who were participating in the trial as well as both consumers and merchants who were not participating in the trial. Random samples were then drawn from these frames. More than 350 consumers and over 250 merchants completed and returned the survey. Responses were analyzed separately for each of the four groups sampled. The most important characteristic leading to adoption identified by all four groups was relative advantage—the smart card had to demonstrate a clear competitive advantage over what they currently used. Compatibility (i.e., the degree to which the smart card fit with their current preferences) was also noted as important to all but the nonparticipating merchant group. Beyond this, the key drivers of adoption differed considerably by group. Participating consumers and participating merchants appeared to possess different perspectives when assessing their decision to adopt the smart card technology. Consumers seemed to value the notion that the adoption decision is under their control, whereas merchants seemed to place more value on the antecedents that had the potential to add to their bottom line. This suggests that it is necessary to institute different marketing tactics to attract the early adopting groups. In addition, significant differences in the importance of antecedents between participating and nonparticipating consumers and participating and nonparticipating merchants suggest that, over time, it may also be necessary to develop and use different marketing tactics for later adopters.     

Can Bank Lines of Credit Protect REITs against a Credit Crisis?

In a tight credit market, the primary concern of most real estate investment trusts (REITs) is the ability to access capital and maintain adequate liquidity. Bank lines of credit or loan commitments, which are legally binding contracts arranged to provide debt at the call of the borrowers under prespecified terms, have been theorized to provide insurance protection against a credit crisis. This article examines whether bank lines of credit can indeed provide some insurance for REITs and allow them to access credit during bad times. Covering three credit crunch events, both the origination and utilization patterns of commitment loans by 275 REITs publicly traded between 1992 and 2007 are analyzed. We find that bank lines of credit insulated REITs from credit rationing at both the broad market level as well as at the firm level. However, the insurance value is qualified in the case of smaller and risky firms which may not get to extend their credit limit or draw down on their existing credit lines in a credit crisis.     

信用监管、营商环境与区域经济增长

本文通过构建模型刻画不同地区信用监管水平对区域经济增长的边际效应,综合考虑营商环境等多维要素与信用体系建设的协同效应,利用1999~2018年中国省级城市面板数据和2017~2019年城市信用监测数据,通过实证分析得出以下结论:(1)地区信用监管水平对区域经济增长的边际贡献显著为正,说明信用监管对区域经济增长具有重要作用;(2)营商环境与信用监管水平的交互系数显著为正,说明在营商环境越好的地区,信用监管对区域经济增长的作用越大;(3)信用监管和营商环境有利于降低企业交易成本,促进潜在企业的市场进入,进而推动区域经济发展。     

我国资信评级业发展的现状及趋势

资信评级是社会信用体系的主题内容之一,而社会信用体系是现代市场经济运行的基础。面对正在蓬勃发展的资信评级市场,本文就其发展现状和未来趋势做较为深入地分析和阐述。     

企业赊销与信用管理

信用交易(即赊销)是市场发展的产物,但是信用风险和信用管理对企业的发展影响极大,甚至对企业的生存直接造成威胁.文章介绍了企业信用管理体系的要素,阐述了建立信用管理制度和设立信用管理部门的具体方法,以及信用管理体系的运作方式,并通过实例建立了客户信用评定模型.     

论市场秩序与企业信用

本文从市场秩序的现状、造成市场秩序混乱和反经济信用行为的原因分析入手，提出了强化社会信用意识、建立有效的企业信用管理和企业信用评价体系，从而健全和完善公平竞争和有效运行的市场秩序的构想。     

Dynamic Credit Rationing in the Home Mortgage Market

In this study a model of dynamic credit rationing in the home mortgage market by a profit-maximizing financial institution is developed.
In the 1960s and 1970s it was widely believed that credit rationing was very important in the mortgage market. The recent deregulation and innovation in financial markets is belived to have resulted in a significant weakening of these availability effects. For the model developed it is shown that deposit diversification, such as the introduction of money market accounts in 1978, would tend to reduce the amount of any dynamic credit rationing that was occurring.     

总监理工程师诚信评价指标研究

总监理工程师诚信是建筑市场诚信体系的重要组成部分,研究其评价指标是一项基础性工作。文章在科学界定总监理工程师诚信内涵的基础上,通过理论研究、专家访谈、问卷调查及分析,考虑建筑市场和工程现场联动,构建了一个包括40个评价指标,从诚信基础、履约诚信、守法诚信三个方面对总监理工程师诚信进行评价的指标体系模型。文章所确立的评价指标是对《全国建筑市场注册执业人员不良行为标准》中相关内容的有益补充。