IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fip/fedpwp/14-21.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Should defaults be forgotten? Evidence from variation in removal of negative consumer credit information

Author

Listed:
  • Marieke Bos
  • Leonard I. Nakamura

Abstract

Practically all industrialized economies restrict the length of time that credit bureaus can retain borrowers? negative credit information. There is, however, a large variation in the permitted retention times across countries. By exploiting a quasi-experimental variation in this retention time, we investigate what happens when negative information is deleted earlier from credit files. We find that the loss of information led banks to tighten their lending standards significantly as the expected retention time was diminished from on average three-and-a-half to three years exactly. Simultaneously, we find that borrowers who experience this shorter retention time default more frequently. Since borrowers nevertheless obtain more net access to credit and total defaults do not increase overall, we cannot rule out that this reduction in retention time is optimal.

Suggested Citation

  • Marieke Bos & Leonard I. Nakamura, 2014. "Should defaults be forgotten? Evidence from variation in removal of negative consumer credit information," Working Papers 14-21, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedpwp:14-21
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/working-papers/2014/wp14-21.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pagano, Marco & Jappelli, Tullio, 1993. "Information Sharing in Credit Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 48(5), pages 1693-1718, December.
    2. Brown, Martin & Jappelli, Tullio & Pagano, Marco, 2009. "Information sharing and credit: Firm-level evidence from transition countries," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 151-172, April.
    3. George J. Mailath & Larry Samuelson, 2001. "Who Wants a Good Reputation?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 68(2), pages 415-441.
    4. Leonard I. Nakamura & Kasper Roszbach, 2010. "Credit ratings and bank monitoring ability," Working Papers 10-21, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    5. David K. Musto, 2004. "What Happens When Information Leaves a Market? Evidence from Postbankruptcy Consumers," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 77(4), pages 725-748, October.
    6. Rafael Rob & Arthur Fishman, 2005. "Is Bigger Better? Customer Base Expansion through Word-of-Mouth Reputation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(5), pages 1146-1175, October.
    7. Padilla, A. Jorge & Pagano, Marco, 2000. "Sharing default information as a borrower discipline device," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1951-1980, December.
    8. Vercammen, James A, 1995. "Credit Bureau Policy and Sustainable Reputation Effects in Credit Markets," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 62(248), pages 461-478, November.
    9. Liberman, Andres, 2016. "The value of a good credit reputation: Evidence from credit card renegotiations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(3), pages 644-660.
    10. Diamond, Douglas W, 1989. "Reputation Acquisition in Debt Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(4), pages 828-862, August.
    11. Andrew Hertzberg & José María Liberti & Daniel Paravisini, 2011. "Public Information and Coordination: Evidence from a Credit Registry Expansion," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(2), pages 379-412, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liberman, Andres & Paravisini, Daniel & Pathania, Vikram, 2021. "High-cost debt and perceived creditworthiness: Evidence from the UK," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 719-736.
    2. Andres Liberman & Christopher Neilson & Luis Opazo & Seth Zimmerman, 2018. "The Equilibrium Effects of Information Deletion: Evidence from Consumer Credit Markets," NBER Working Papers 25097, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Nicolás de Roux, 2021. "Exogenous shocks, credit reports and access to credit: Evidence from colombian coffee producers," Documentos CEDE 19769, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    4. Cahn, Christophe & Girotti, Mattia & Landier, Augustin, 2021. "Entrepreneurship and information on past failures: A natural experiment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(1), pages 102-121.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ronel Elul & Piero Gottardi, 2015. "Bankruptcy: Is It Enough to Forgive or Must We Also Forget?," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(4), pages 294-338, November.
    2. Liberti, José & Sturgess, Jason & Sutherland, Andrew, 2022. "How voluntary information sharing systems form: Evidence from a U.S. commercial credit bureau," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(3), pages 827-849.
    3. Notheisen, Benedikt & Weinhardt, Christof, 2019. "The blockchain, plums, and lemons: Information asymmetries & transparency in decentralized markets," Working Paper Series in Economics 130, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Department of Economics and Management.
    4. Behr, Patrick & Sonnekalb, Simon, 2012. "The effect of information sharing between lenders on access to credit, cost of credit, and loan performance – Evidence from a credit registry introduction," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 3017-3032.
    5. Kalyvas, Antonios Nikolaos & Mamatzakis, Emmanuel, 2017. "Do creditor rights and information sharing affect the performance of foreign banks?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 13-35.
    6. Sergei Kovbasyuk & Giancarlo Spagnolo, 2016. "Memory and Markets," EIEF Working Papers Series 1606, Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF), revised Oct 2017.
    7. Kalyvas, Antonios Nikolaos & Mamatzakis, Emmanuel, 2014. "Does business regulation matter for banks in the European Union?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 278-324.
    8. Sharma, Priyanka, 2017. "Is more information always better? A case in credit markets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 269-283.
    9. Martinez Peria, Maria Soledad & Singh, Sandeep, 2014. "The impact of credit information sharing reforms on firm financing?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7013, The World Bank.
    10. Baah Aye Kusi & Elikplimi Komla Agbloyor & Vera Ogeh Fiador & Kofi Achampong Osei, 2016. "Does Information Sharing Promote or Detract from Bank Returns: Evidence from Ghana," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 28(3), pages 332-343, September.
    11. Christa Hainz, 2011. "Measuring Information Sharing in Credit Markets," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 9(1), pages 21-27, 05.
    12. Samuel Fosu & Albert Danso & Henry Agyei-Boapeah & Collins G. Ntim & Emmanuel Adegbite, 2020. "Credit information sharing and loan default in developing countries: the moderating effect of banking market concentration and national governance quality," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 55-103, July.
    13. Martin Brown & Christian Zehnder, 2007. "Credit Reporting, Relationship Banking, and Loan Repayment," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 39(8), pages 1883-1918, December.
    14. Marieke Bos & Emily Breza & Andres Liberman, 2018. "The Labor Market Effects of Credit Market Information," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(6), pages 2005-2037.
    15. Laptieva, Nataliia, 2016. "Information sharing and the volume of private credit in transition: Evidence from Ukrainian bank-level panel dataAuthor-Name: Grajzl, Peter," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 434-449.
    16. Brown, Martin & Zehnder, Christian, 2010. "The emergence of information sharing in credit markets," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 255-278, April.
    17. Guérineau, Samuel & Léon, Florian, 2019. "Information sharing, credit booms and financial stability: Do developing economies differ from advanced countries?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 64-76.
    18. Carlos Madeira, 2020. "The impact of information laws on consumer credit access: evidence from Chile," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 873, Central Bank of Chile.
    19. Boateng, Agyenim & Asongu, Simplice & Akamavi, Raphael & Tchamyou, Vanessa, 2018. "Information asymmetry and market power in the African banking industry," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 69-83.
    20. Karapetyan, Artashes & Stacescu, Bogdan, 2014. "Does information sharing reduce the role of collateral as a screening device?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 48-57.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Household finance; Consumer credit; Lending policy; Credit scoring;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C34 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Truncated and Censored Models; Switching Regression Models
    • C35 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fip:fedpwp:14-21. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Beth Paul (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frbphus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.