Copyright (c) 2009 All rights reserved. http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann Recent documents in Ronald Mann en-us Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:10:59 PST 3600 http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/32 http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/32 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:45:16 PDT This paper examines how the risks of debt, financial distress, and bankruptcy shift over the life course. The paper compares data from the 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances and the 2007 Consumer Bankruptcy Project to illustrate the ways in which bankrupt households differ from typical households. The paper suggests that there are age differentials in the distribution of unplanned events and in the ability of households to use credit markets to limit the adverse effects of those events; as a result, the typical patterns of bankruptcy filers differ by age. The paper relates those effects to a substantial increase in recent decades in the incidence of financial distress and bankruptcy among the elderly. Allison L. Mann Bankruptcy Consumer Finance http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/31 http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/31 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:37:23 PDT This chapter uses data from the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances for 2004 (the "SCF") to examine the penetration of credit cards into LMI markets. The chapter has two purposes. First, I discuss the rise of the modern credit market, emphasizing the segmentation of product lines based on behavioral and financial characteristics of customer groups. Among other things, that trend involves the use of products aimed at LMI households that differ significantly from those aimed at middle-class households. Second, I describe the extent to which LMI households borrow on credit cards, the types of LMI households that borrow, and how they differ from the more affluent households that borrow. Despite lower incomes, credit card use is almost as common among LMI households as it is among more affluent households. Indeed, measured as a share of income, the credit card balances that LMI cardholders carry are substantially higher than those of more affluent households. To check the robustness of those results, the chapter closes with the results of a multivariate regression analysis of the characteristics of LMI households with credit card debt. Generally, those results suggest that the demographic characteristics of LMI households that have credit card debt are different in material ways from the characteristics of those with credit card debt in the overall population. The models that I summarize here suggest that age, race, and education are important predictors of credit card use in the population at large. At least in these models, however, age and race become insignificant and education is only marginally important in predicting credit card use in LMI households. In LMI households, by contrast, the most significant predictors of credit card use are employment status, the use of other financial products (checking accounts, mortgage loans, and car loans), and marital status. Ronald J. Mann Bankruptcy http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/30 http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/30 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:35:46 PDT This chapter uses data from the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances for 2004 (the "SCF") to examine the penetration of credit cards into LMI markets. The chapter has two purposes. First, I discuss the rise of the modern credit market, emphasizing the segmentation of product lines based on behavioral and financial characteristics of customer groups. Among other things, that trend involves the use of products aimed at LMI households that differ significantly from those aimed at middle-class households. Second, I describe the extent to which LMI households borrow on credit cards, the types of LMI households that borrow, and how they differ from the more affluent households that borrow. Despite lower incomes, credit card use is almost as common among LMI households as it is among more affluent households. Indeed, measured as a share of income, the credit card balances that LMI cardholders carry are substantially higher than those of more affluent households. To check the robustness of those results, the chapter closes with the results of a multivariate regression analysis of the characteristics of LMI households with credit card debt. Generally, those results suggest that the demographic characteristics of LMI households that have credit card debt are different in material ways from the characteristics of those with credit card debt in the overall population. The models that I summarize here suggest that age, race, and education are important predictors of credit card use in the population at large. At least in these models, however, age and race become insignificant and education is only marginally important in predicting credit card use in LMI households. In LMI households, by contrast, the most significant predictors of credit card use are employment status, the use of other financial products (checking accounts, mortgage loans, and car loans), and marital status. Ronald J. Mann Bankruptcy http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/29 http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/29 Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:58:50 PST Ronald J. Mann Internet Policy http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/28 http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/28 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:05:59 PST Ronald J. Mann Payment Systems Consumer Finance http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/27 http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/27 Tue, 05 Feb 2008 07:56:17 PST Ronald J. Mann Payment Systems Bankruptcy Consumer Finance http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/26 http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/26 Mon, 11 Jun 2007 15:52:12 PDT Software patents have been controversial since the days when "software" referred to the crude programs that came free with an IBM mainframe. Different perspectives have been presented in judicial, legislative, and administrative fora over the years, and the press has paid as much attention to this issue as it has to any other intellectual property topic during this time. Meanwhile, a software industry developed and has grown to a remarkable size, whether measured by revenues or profitability, number of firms or employees, or research expenditures. The scope of software innovation has become even broader, as an increasing number of devices incorporate information technology, requiring modern manufacturing firms outside the software industry to employ developers and programmers to ensure that increasingly diverse functions are performed more efficiently.Although inventors have consistently asserted their need for patents in order to compete with industry incumbents, patent protection has not been easily or consistently available for much of this period. Rather, the legal system has responded gradually to the burgeoning software industry by broadening the scope and strength of protection for software-related inventions in fits and starts. The explosive growth of the industry is largely attributable to demand generated by the efficiency of software solutions; the expansion of the venture capital industry over the same period largely explains the lack of industry concentration. The "garage" mentality can be explained by the fact that even some of the largest industry incumbents began with one or two (largely unfunded) inventors. Also, there is every reason to believe that increased patent protection has contributed to the ability of independent inventors and smaller firms to compete. Moreover, the ability to obtain patents on software always has been important to some of the industry incumbents, while others have exhibited little need for patents and, displayed in some cases, strenuous opposition to the patentability of software. The incumbents are a diverse group. Some produce only software; others have substantial hardware product lines. Some sell to other technology firms and others sell applications to end users in a broad range of markets. And some sell prepackaged software products, while others focus on services--custom programming, installation, or maintenance. Regardless of the sector in which they participate, the incumbents spend massive amounts on research and development (R&D)--about 14% of their annual revenues, more than $60,000 per employee. However, there are important patterns in patenting practices that raw data on R&D investments cannot explain. Ronald Mann Intellectual Property http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/25 http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/25 Wed, 14 Feb 2007 06:25:50 PST Argues that incentives to monitor default in construction loans would be improved by elevating mechanics lien claimants over construction lenders. Ronald Mann Secured Credit http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/24 http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/24 Wed, 14 Feb 2007 06:21:25 PST Analyzes the propriety of using intermediaries to regulate misconduct on the Internet. Ronald Mann Internet Policy http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/23 http://works.bepress.com/ronald_mann/23 Wed, 14 Feb 2007 06:19:23 PST The second part of the verification institutions project, extending the 87 Geo. L.J. (1999) article to accommodate the role of information technology. Ronald Mann Secured Credit Contract Theory