The Policy and Economic Research Council (PERC) is a Chapel Hill, North Carolina based non-profit, non-partisan think tank concentrates on market-based economic development, both in the United States and internationally. PERC is a primary thought leader in the field of alternative data, and has spearheaded information-led development as a means for effective community economic development. PERC scholars have published a number of reports, presented findings worldwide, and testified before the United States Congress on a variety of issues.

History

PERC was initially founded as the Information Policy Institute in 2002 in New York City. It first entered national prominence with the reauthorization of the Fair Credit Reporting Act in 2003. PERC produced Access, Efficiency, and Opportunity for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The report was the most cited document during the Congressional debate that resulted in the adoption of all of PERC's policy prescriptions. In 2004, it helped to rationalize the free credit provisions of the FACT Act. PERC's research assisted in the reopening of financial data sharing in Australia and led to a Parliamentary inquiry. In August 2008, the Australian Law Reform Commission recommended Australia follow many of PERC's recommendations.

In 2006, PERC published Give Credit Where Credit Is Due with The Brookings Institution, helping to reignite interest in the issue of alternative data. PERC remains very active in the field, through its Alternative Data Initiative. PERC also has a long running interest in economic recovery in the Gulf Coast region, after Hurricane Katrina. A number of surveys and reports on small business recovery have been released. PERC has released studies for the governments of South Africa, Brazil, Japan, and several Latin American markets as a whole.

In September, 2009, Dr. Michael Turner was selected to be a fellow at Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, which solidified Ashoka's support for PERC's Alternative Data Initiative.

Projects

Besides previous work in data privacy and information policy, PERC has a number of currently active projects.

Alternative Data Initiative

Up to 54 million Americans have insufficient credit information to qualify for mainstream credit. PERC has been promoting the full reporting of customer payment data -- both positive and negative data -- by energy utility and telecom firms to credit rating agencies as a way of helping millions of Americans quickly build a positive credit history and enable them to access affordable credit. PERC has published three major reports on the issue: Giving Underserved Consumers Better Access to the Credit System, Give Credit Where Credit is Due (with the Brookings Institution), and You Score, You Win. PERC also conducts extensive outreach, including testimony in front of Congress. PERC works with the three big credit reporting agencies, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, as well as consumer groups, asset building organizations including the Corporation for Enterprise Development CFED, state and federal legislators and regulators as part of its Alternative Data Initiative.

In the Fall of 2009, owing to the promise of the idea, the Ashoka Foundation named PERC founder Dr. Michael Turner a US Ashoka Fellow. This is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a social entrepreneur, and is indicative of the great potential PERC's ADI holds to dramatically increase financial inclusion in the US and globally.

Information-Led Development

PERC also conducts research in international economic development. PERC scholars have conducted research and outreach in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, China, India, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Costa Rica, South Africa, Russia, and Singapore. PERC founded the Asia-Pacific Credit Coalition to promote regional credit reporting standards. In March 2008, it hosted an international experts conference on credit reporting in China with Peking University. Most recently, PERC has been retained by the National Credit Regulator of South Africa to conduct research on SMEs.

Gulf Coast Economic Renewal

PERC President Michael Turner initially co-authored an op-ed piece on credit impacts of Hurricane Katrina. Interest from this piece led PERC to partner with The Brookings Institution to do a study on the economic effects of disaster on communities. PERC has authored two surveys of small business owners, Recovery, Renewal, and Resiliency' and Recovering But Not Recovered. Research conducted jointly with The World Bank represents the first time in its history that the World Bank has engaged in research focusing upon the United States. They released a report on the credit impacts of disaster, and are working to provide a recovery monitoring dashboard.

References

1. Business Week, The Credit Rating in Your Shoebox
2. www.infopolicy.org, About Us
3. The Fair Credit Reporting Act: Access, Efficiency & Opportunity, Information Policy Institute, June 2003
4. Bureau of National Affairs, "Financial Institutions--White House Said Planning FCRA Strategy; Johnson Says Business Community Divided"
5. Financial Review, No clear case for deposit insurance
6. Dun & Bradstreet, Law Reform Commission calls for reform of credit reporting laws
7. The Brookings Institution, Give Credit Where Credit Is Due
8. USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/2007-08-28-katrina-finances_N.htm
9. Valor Econômico, PIB pode avançar mais de 1% com cadastro positivo
10. PERC, On the Impact of Credit Payment Reporting on the Financial Sector and Overall Economic Performance in Japan
11. PERC, Economic Impacts of Payment Reporting Participation in Latin America
12. Boston Globe, Verizon's 'free gift' to customers: Giving payment data to credit bureaus
13. C-SPAN, Credit Scoring System and Credit Scores - Panel 1
14. www.apeccredit.org
15. PERC/PAFIRC Call for Papers
16. National Business Review, "Making a Better Life: Preparing for the Post-Katrina Personal Finance Crisis"
17. PERC, The Financial Impacts of Disaster

See also

• alternative data
• Ashoka Foundation
• The Brookings Institution
• The World Bank
• Fair Credit Reporting Act
• FACT Act
• The Corporation for Enterprise Development -- an asset building advocacy group and long-time supporter of PERC's ADI
• The Center for Financial Services Innovation -- A Chicago-based consultancy working in similar issue areas to PERC focusing on the demand side of alternative data

External links

• PERC's website
• Turner and Agarwal, Journal of Risk Management in Financial Institutions, "Using non-traditional data for underwriting loans to thin-file borrowers: Evidence, tips and precautions