Subprime consumer credit demand: evidence from a lender's pricing experiment

We test the interest rate sensitivity of subprime credit card borrowers using a unique panel data set from a UK credit card company. What is novel about our contribution is that we were given details of a randomized interest rate experiment conducted by the lender between October 2006 and January 2007. We find that individuals who tend to utilize their credit limits fully do not reduce their demand for credit when subject to increases in interest rates as high as 3 percentage points. This finding is naturally interpreted as evidence of binding liquidity constraints. We also demonstrate the importance of truly exogenous variation in interest rates when estimating credit demand elasticities. We show that estimating a standard credit demand equation with nonexperimental variation leads to seriously biased estimates even when conditioning on a rich set of controls and individual fixed effects. In particular, this procedure results in a large and statistically significant 3-month elasticity of credit card debt with respect to interest rates even though the experimental estimate of the same elasticity is neither economically nor statistically different from zero. JEL Classification: D11, D12, D14liquidity constraints, randomized trials, subprime credit

Subprime consumer credit demand: evidence from a lender's pricing experiment

We test the interest rate sensitivity of subprime credit card borrowers using a unique panel data set from a UK credit card company. What is novel about our contribution is that we were given details of a randomized interest rate experiment conducted by the lender between October 2006 and January 2007. We find that individuals who tend to utilize their credit limits fully do not reduce their demand for credit when subject to increases in interest rates as high as 3 percentage points. This finding is naturally interpreted as evidence of binding liquidity constraints. We also demonstrate the importance of truly exogenous variation in interest rates when estimating credit demand elasticities. We show that estimating a standard credit demand equation with nonexperimental variation leads to seriously biased estimates even when conditioning on a rich set of controls and individual fixed effects. In particular, this procedure results in a large and statistically significant 3-month elasticity of credit card debt with respect to interest rates even though the experimental estimate of the same elasticity is neither economically nor statistically different from zero

Stat3/Cdc25a-dependent cell proliferation promotes embryonic axis extension during zebrafish gastrulation

Cell proliferation has generally been considered dispensable for anteroposterior extension of embryonic axis during vertebrate gastrulation. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3), a conserved controller of cell proliferation, survival and regeneration, is associated with human scoliosis, cancer and Hyper IgE Syndrome. Zebrafish Stat3 was proposed to govern convergence and extension gastrulation movements in part by promoting Wnt/Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) signaling, a conserved regulator of mediolaterally polarized cell behaviors. Here, using zebrafish stat3 null mutants and pharmacological tools, we demonstrate that cell proliferation contributes to anteroposterior embryonic axis extension. Zebrafish embryos lacking maternal and zygotic Stat3 expression exhibit normal convergence movements and planar cell polarity signaling, but transient axis elongation defect due to insufficient number of cells resulting largely from reduced cell proliferation and increased apoptosis. Pharmacologic inhibition of cell proliferation during gastrulation phenocopied axis elongation defects. Stat3 regulates cell proliferation and axis extension in part via upregulation of Cdc25a expression during oogenesis. Accordingly, restoring Cdc25a expression in stat3 mutants partially suppressed cell proliferation and gastrulation defects. During later development, stat3 mutant zebrafish exhibit stunted growth, scoliosis, excessive inflammation, and fail to thrive, affording a genetic tool to study Stat3 function in vertebrate development, regeneration, and disease

On detection, treatment and prevention of complications in paediatric cataract surgery

Purpose: To find and validate methods for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of complications in paediatric cataract surgery. Background: Cataract and glaucoma are major treatable blinding conditions in children. Surgery for cataract in children and for its major complications, secondary glaucoma (SG) and visual axis opacification (VAO), are performed in general anaesthesia in the child. Knowledge on detection, indication and treatment as well as complication rates and risks are important to make the right decisions. Methods: Data on diagnosis, treatment and outcome for children subjected to surgery was retrieved from medical records or from the Paediatric Cataract Registry (PECARE). Results: Refractive change mapping is an effective method to follow development after early cataract surgery enabling detection of SG. Glaucoma treatment with chamber angle surgery and shunt draining device is safe and reduces pressure levels adequately. Visual acuity (VA) levels seems good. With primary implantation of bag-in-the-lens intraocular lens (BiL-IOL), the rate of VAO is low, 4.6%. Comorbidity is common and SG more frequent in eyes with early surgery for congenital cataract; Surgery in infants before 5 weeks of age has a high SG rate but results in higher corrected distance visual acuity levels compared to surgery between 5 and 12 weeks of age. Performing surgery between 5 weeks and 2 years of age resulted in a SG rate of 6.7% with primary implantation of a BiL-IOL. In a Swedish registry cohort of paediatric cataract surgeries <8 years of age and a mean follow-up of 3.31 years, the incidence of surgically treated SG was 23.7%. The majority was early-onset (< 1 year after surgery). With 58.3% infants (surgery within 3 months of age) this rate is fair. The incidence of late-onset glaucoma was low but the time span too short for prediction. Conclusion: Early detection and treatment of congenital cataract and SG are important for good VA results during childhood. Chamber angle surgery and shunt draining device lower pressure adequately in cases of SG. With primary implantation of a BiL-IOL the VAO rate was 4.6% in children from 2 weeks to 16 years of age. High rates of SG are obtained when performing surgery during the first 5 weeks. Postponing surgery to after 5 weeks of age seems to reduce the rate of early-onset secondary glaucoma. The low SG incidence for surgery after 5 weeks of age indicates safety from a glaucoma perspective for implantation of BiL-IOL in children over 5 weeks of age