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People of the Caribbean have maintained social networks that provide security in the face of human and natural perturbations. Rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs) constitute one such system, which probably came to much of the Caribbean with African people and persisted through slavery. As a foundation of creole economic systems throughout the Caribbean, ROSCAs are time-tested dimensions of traditional culture and a source of pride and identity. This analysis of the history and contemporary functions of ROSCAs in Barbados and the Bahamas is based on more than a thousand extensive and intensive first-person interviews and surveys. This article argues that ROSCAs continue, much as they did in the past, to provide critical human services, social stability, and a source of African-ancestor identity in these two nations. (Women’s power, rotating credit, Bahamas, Barbados).

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This dissertation examines the phenomenon of consumer debt in the U.S. and probes the issue of credit card debt from a consumer-centric perspective. It examines how credit card usage and credit card debt are embedded in consumers' social relations and life projects, and reveals how debtors cope within their social networks as they use credit cards and manage their credit card debt.Study 1 explores how young adults use credit cards to achieve their life goals as well as to negotiate changes in their relationships with their parents. Credit cards are an important tool for helping young people gain independence and sever their obligation to their parents. This study focuses on the initial stage of credit consumption and examines the rationale young adults use when acquiring credit cards and taking on credit card debt. Through depth interviews with 17 undergraduate students who have credit card debt, I find that the consumption of credit cards corresponds to their strategies to negotiate independence as well as obligations to their parents. The use of credit cards and management of credit card debt among young adults is a significant and symbolic aspect of their transition from childhood to adulthood, and credit cards are a transitional tool for this coming of age.Study 2 focuses on another phase of debt consumption: repayment of credit card debt. Depth interviews were conducted with 22 adult debtors who were enrolled in a debt elimination program at a credit-counseling agency. Two main theoretical themes are found. First, debtors negotiate the meaning of consumer status. The concept of normality with respect to consumer behavior changes from being based on lifestyle and possessions to a focus on maintaining consumer credibility and being a good credit citizen. Second, during the process of falling into debt and struggling to extricate oneself from debt, consumers engage in a stigma management process to deal with people in their social networks. In addition to coping with the financial consequences of debt, debtors also employ strategies to cope with debt's symbolic consequences.

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<p>This dissertation investigates how variation in trade credit standards play a role in firm maturation. In Chapter 1, I survey existing research in trade credit. Following this, I identify lifecycle trends in supplier trade credit policy in Chapter 2. Young suppliers assume greater risks in trade credit provision early in their lifecycles in order to advance growth and product market agendas. There is a peak around a supplier's IPO in the riskiness of trade credit supplied, measured by doubtful receivables and the length of credit provided (receivables length). I find that young firms in industries where customer-supplier relationships are more significant have higher doubtful receivables, consistent with suppliers varying trade credit standards to build relationships. Additionally, young suppliers with more complex products (as measured by R&D intensity) offer longer duration loans compared to suppliers of similar age. Offering riskier trade credit terms affects economic outcomes. In Chapter 3, I study if varying trade credit standards for the purpose of relationship building is a viable strategy for all firm maturities. I use the incidence of a major free trade agreement to study firm responses to a major disruption in existing supplier-customer relationships. Chapter 3 posits both supplier driven as well as customer driven explanations for the observed responses, finding evidence consistent with older suppliers have a reduced incentive as well as capacity to engage in relationship building.</p> / Dissertation

Magistro darbe yra apibrėžtos pagrindinės komercinių bankų kreditų portfelio rizikos valdymo problemos. Išnagrinėjus Lietuvos ir užsienio autorių literatūrą, pateikti paskolų portfelio sudarymo, rizikos valdymo metodai ir jų praktinės pritaikymo galimybės komerciniuose bankuose. Analitinėje darbo dalyje pateikiami DnB NORD banko paskolų portfelio formavimo bei rizikos valdymo ypatumai. Taip pat pateikiamos paskolų portfelio rizikos valdymo tobulinimo kryptys, akcentuojant kredito, likvidumo ir palūkanų normos kitimo rizikas. / In this master’s final paper are defined main problems of commerce banks in credit portfolio risk management. Due to analyze of Lithuanian and foreign authors, principles of credit portfolio formation, risk management methods and practical appliance in commerce banks are proposed in this work. Peculiarities of credit portfolio formation and risk management in DnB NORD bank are introduced in analytical part of the work. Ways of improving credit portfolio risk management emphasizing credit, liquidity and change of interest rate risks are also offered.

Baigiamasis magistro darbas susideda iš trijų pagrindinių dalių. Pirmoje darbo dalyje aptariama prekinio kredito esmė, samprata, jo reikšmė bei teikiami privalumai. Taip pat nagrinėjama prekinio kreditavimo valdymo pagrindiniai aspektai, išskiriami vidiniai ir išoriniai prekinio kreditavimo valdymo metodai, nagrinėjami jų privalumai ir trūkumai bei sudaromas teorinis prekinio kreditavimo valdymo modelis. Antroje darbo dalyje apžvelgiama Lietuvoje teikiamų prekinio kreditavimo valdymo paslaugų situacija, jų trūkumai bei privalumai, o taip pat šių paslaugų vartojimo paplitimas Lietuvoje. Trečioje darbo dalyje parengiama tyrimo „Prekinio kreditavimo valdymas Lietuvos didmeninėse prekybinėse įmonėse“ metodika bei pateikiami susisteminti, išanalizuoti bei apibendrinti atlikto tyrimo rezultatai, suformuluojamos problemos bei jų sprendimo būdai, pateikiami pasiūlymai. / The master’s work consists of tree main chapters. In the first chapter is analyzed the meaning, notion of the commodity credit and are given main advantages. Also are analyzed most important aspects of commodity credit management, are given outside and inside commodity credit management’s methods, examined their advantages and disadvantages and given theoretical model of commodity credit management. In the second chapter of the work the situation of commodity credit management services is reviewed, the advantages and disadvantages of this situation and the spreading of these services in the Republic of Lithuania. In the third part of the work is prepared methodic of research “Commodity credit management in the Lithuanian wholesale companies” and given systematic and analyzed carry out results, formulated problems and their solution ways, presented suggestions.

This work traces the relationship of individual persons to national economic phenomena associated with consumer finance. The work follows the assemblage of individual consumer credit/debt agents through credit reporting and credit scoring, through to the aggregation of these agents in student loan-backed securitization and credit ratings. The work focuses on the unique technico-cultural constructions produced when human subjects are operatively conjoined to other related discursive and material objects, including related legislation, private corporations, and governmental bodies. The work explores how these unique constructions form stable networks connecting individuals to larger socio-economic settings: networks at once revealing the profoundly distributed nature of both ‘agents’ and their ‘agency,’ and at the same time intimating alternative approaches to questions of individual and collective agency outside the agent/structure dichotomy. The work concludes by addressing the place of this research in consumer finance generally, and the role of consumer finance in contemporary US economics broadly.