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Evaluating credit default risk in P2P lending: a market maturity perspective

Abstract

The Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending industry has grown significantly in recent years, owing its traction to a growing interest in the market from both individual borrowers and lenders alike. Such platforms have greatly benefited from the advent of digital transformation and expanding internet footprint across people of all ages and backgrounds. These platforms leverage novel ways of interacting to facilitate an alternative means of financing which provides more opportunities to borrowers who may, otherwise not have access to debt through conventional mechanisms, and more investment opportunities to lenders who may be seeking to diversify their portfolios. This study leverages a dataset made available by the Lending Club P2P lending platform, containing more than 2 million loan entries, amassed over more than 10 years. Being a pioneer in the industry, Lending Club’s track record and data provide a good window into the inner workings of such platforms and their ability to assess the creditworthiness of borrowers and loan applications. We set out to build upon prior work done in this space by understanding and analyzing this dataset to identify the determinants of default of loans issued through P2P lending platforms. Our analysis is also employed to create a predictive model which is then tested against our dataset. This approach builds upon previous studies by outlining an end-to-end process to analyze and assess a platform’s ability to adequately predict credit default risk. We have found that, in alignment with prior work, such platforms are indeed able to adequately assess credit default risk, in the way that grades are assigned to individual loans. The logistic regression model which we have built has also yielded good results in predicting defaulted loans, while exhibiting mediocre performance in classifying fully repaid loans as likely cases of default.

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Evaluating credit default risk in P2P lending: a market maturity perspective

Author: Fialho, Rita Serras Celorico da Silva
Year: 2022
Source: https://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/135544/1/TEGI0586.pdf
i
EVALUATING CREDIT DEFAULT RISK IN P2P
LENDING
Ri a Se as Celo ico Da Sil a Fialho
A Ma ke Ma u i y Pe spec i e
Disse a ion p esen ed as pa ial equi emen o ob aining
he Mas e ’s deg ee in S a is ics and In o ma ion
Managemen
ii
NOVA In o ma ion Managemen School
Ins i u o Supe io de Es a ís ica e Ges ão de In o mação
Uni e sidade No a de Lisboa
EVALUATING CREDIT DEFAULT RISK IN P2P LENDING
by
Ri a Se as Celo ico Da Sil a Fialho
Disse a ion p esen ed as pa ial equi emen o ob aining he Mas e ’s deg ee in S a is ics and
In o ma ion Managemen
Ad iso : P o . D . Jo ge Miguel Ven u a B a o, PhD
No embe 2021
iii
ABSTRACT
The Pee - o-Pee (P2P) lending indus y has g own signi ican ly in ecen yea s, owing i s ac ion o a
g owing in e es in he ma ke om bo h indi idual bo owe s and lende s alike. Such pla o ms ha e
g ea ly bene i ed om he ad en o digi al ans o ma ion and expanding in e ne oo p in ac oss
people o all ages and backg ounds. These pla o ms le e age no el ways o in e ac ing o acili a e an
al e na i e means o inancing which p o ides mo e oppo uni ies o bo owe s who may, o he wise
no ha e access o deb h ough con en ional mechanisms, and mo e in es men oppo uni ies o
lende s who may be seeking o di e si y hei po olios.
This s udy le e ages a da ase made a ailable by he Lending Club P2P lending pla o m, con aining
mo e han 2 million loan en ies, amassed o e mo e han 10 yea s. Being a pionee in he indus y,
Lending Club’s ack eco d and da a p o ide a good window in o he inne wo kings o such pla o ms
and hei abili y o assess he c edi wo hiness o bo owe s and loan applica ions.
We se ou o build upon p io wo k done in his space by unde s anding and analyzing his da ase o
iden i y he de e minan s o de aul o loans issued h ough P2P lending pla o ms. Ou analysis is also
employed o c ea e a p edic i e model which is hen es ed agains ou da ase . This app oach builds
upon p e ious s udies by ou lining an end- o-end p ocess o analyze and assess a pla o m’s abili y o
adequa ely p edic c edi de aul isk.
We ha e ound ha , in alignmen wi h p io wo k, such pla o ms a e indeed able o adequa ely assess
c edi de aul isk, in he way ha g ades a e assigned o indi idual loans. The logis ic eg ession model
which we ha e buil has also yielded good esul s in p edic ing de aul ed loans, while exhibi ing
medioc e pe o mance in classi ying ully epaid loans as likely cases o de aul .
KEYWORDS
C edi Risk; C edi De aul ; De aul Risk; P2P Lending; Lending Club; Logis ic Reg ession; Da a
Analysis; De e minan s o De aul
i
INDEX
1 In oduc ion ................................................................................................................ 8
1.1 Lending Club ......................................................................................................... 9
2 Li e a u e e iew ....................................................................................................... 13
2.1 Online P2P lending his o y and cha ac e iza ion ............................................... 13
2.2 Risks o online P2P lending ma ke s – he good and he bad ............................ 13
2.3 De e minan s o de aul in online P2P lending ma ke s .................................... 15
2.4 Risk sco ing in online P2P lending ma ke s ........................................................ 15
3 Me hodology ............................................................................................................. 17
3.1 The Model - Logis ic Reg ession ......................................................................... 17
3.2 Pe o mance Measu emen s o he Model ....................................................... 18
4 Da a ........................................................................................................................... 20
4.1 Da a Desc ip ion ................................................................................................. 20
4.2 Da a Re inemen ................................................................................................ 21
4.3 Explo a o y Da a Analysis .................................................................................. 24
4.4 Final Va iables .................................................................................................... 28
5 Resul s and discussion ............................................................................................... 30
5.1 Model and Resul s .............................................................................................. 30
5.2 Model Pe o mance ........................................................................................... 33
6 Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 35
6.1 Limi a ions and Fu u e Wo k ............................................................................. 36
7 Bibliog aphy .............................................................................................................. 37
8 Appendix ................................................................................................................... 42
8.1 Appendix A ......................................................................................................... 42
8.2 Appendix B ......................................................................................................... 47
8.3 Appendix C ......................................................................................................... 48
LIST OF FIGURES
Figu e 1 – Lending Club’s Business Model ................................................................................ 9
Figu e 2 - Numbe o loans issued by yea .............................................................................. 20
Figu e 3 - Numbe o obse a ions by employmen leng h .................................................... 22
Figu e 4 - Dis ibu ion o annual income ................................................................................ 25
Figu e 5 - D i ou lie s .............................................................................................................. 25
Figu e 6 - Rela ionship be ween in e es a e and subg ade .................................................. 26
Figu e 7 - Co ela ion Ma ix o nume ical a iables .............................................................. 27
Figu e 8 - ROC Cu e ............................................................................................................... 34

i
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 - Con usion Ma ix ...................................................................................................... 18
Table 2 - Summa y o he employmen leng h a iable .......................................................... 22
Table 3 - Numbe o loans by loan s a us ............................................................................... 23
Table 4 - Summa y o he annual income a iable ................................................................. 24
Table 5 - Dis ibu ion o loans by home owne ship ................................................................ 27
Table 6 - Logis ic Reg ession esul s ....................................................................................... 31
Table 7 - Con usion Ma ix ...................................................................................................... 33
Table 8 - Model Pe o mance Measu es ................................................................................ 33
Table 9 - All Lending Club a iables wi h desc ip ion ............................................................. 42
Table 10 - Co ela ion ma ix o LC a iables .......................................................................... 47
Table 11 - Desc ip i e S a is ics o Nume ical Va iables ......................................................... 48
Table 12 - Desc ip i e S a is ics o Ca ego ical Va iables ....................................................... 49
ii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
ANNs A i icial Neu al Ne wo ks
AUC A ea Unde he ROC Cu e
BME Bayesian Model Ensembles
DA Disc imina e Analysis
DT Decision T ees
DTI Deb o Income
FPR False Posi i e Ra e
GA Gene ic and E olu iona y Algo i hms
LR Logis ic Reg ession
MLM Maximum Likelihood Me hod
NN Neu al Ne wo ks
P2P Pee - o-pee
OR Odds Ra io
RF Random Fo es
ROC Recei e Ope a ing Cha ac e is ic cu e
SEC Secu i ies and Exchange Commission
SVM Suppo Vec o Machine
TPR T ue Posi i e Ra e
8
1 INTRODUCTION
In mode n his o y, lending is conside ed o be one o he key ac i i ies ca ied ou by inancial
ins i u ions. I is h ough he ins umen o c edi ha a ious economic ac i i ies see hei sp ead and
di e si ica ion, om p oduc ion o consump ion. I is h ough c edi ha businesses and indi iduals
uel hei needs o g ow and imp o e.
In he ac i i y o “lending” money, wo pa ies en e a ansac ion in which a lende “lends” money o
a bo owe , wi h a p omise o g adual epaymen . Rega dless o he e ms o epaymen , he e is
always a isk associa ed wi h he bo owe no being able o pay back he loan. This isk is classi ied as
“c edi isk” and is, hence, a measu e o he likelihood ha a bo owe may de aul on an issued loan,
hus ailing o mee he e ms de ined in he con ac en e ed by bo h pa ies.
Gi en he na u e and unce ain y o he c edi ma ke and conside ing he isks inhe en o he money-
lending ac i i y, inancial ins i u ions ha e long sough o bo h de elop and imp o e he mechanisms
h ough which hey e and check he quali y o bo owe s o whom hey lend money, as a means o
educing c edi isk and, ul ima ely, making back hei ini ial in es men .
The inancial c isis o 2007-2010 had a widesp ead and global impac on he en i e inancial indus y
and as ly a ec ed o he sec o s o he economy, leading o a educ ion in he possibili y o ecou se
o adi ional c edi by consume s and small businesses and dis us and dissa is ac ion wi h
comme cial banks and o he es ablished inancial ins i u ions.
The ad en o he in e ne and he inc ease in popula i y o web se ices and new business models
based on le e aging he bene i s o in e connec i i y and as , ubiqui ous access o he in e ne ,
coupled wi h he a o emen ioned dis us and discon en wi h adi ional inancial ins i u ions and
in e media ies, u he accele a ed he ise o al e na i e inance in he con ex o a globalized wo ld
economy.
Al e na i e inancial se ices compose an a ay o inancial se ices o e ed by p o ide s ha may
ope a e ou side o he umb ella o egula ed ins i u ions. Despi e many o he p oduc s and se ices
p o ided by hem no being “al e na i e”, bu a he he same as, o simila o hose o , adi ional
p o ide s, ins i u ions in his segmen a e o en cha ac e ized by ha ing mo e inhe en isk o hei
ope a ions and by execu ing adi ional unc ions/se ices ia al e na i e means o in e ac ion (e.g.
le e aging he In e ne o connec inancial pee s in a ansac ion) (B adley e al., 2009).
Pee - o-pee (P2P) lending is he p ac ice in which indi iduals lend money o o he indi iduals h ough,
gene ally, an online pla o m ha di ec ly connec s lende s wi h bo owe s wi hou he in ol emen
o a adi ional inancial in e media y. Whe e in con en ional lending a inancial ins i u ion, such as a
bank, would lend money o an indi idual, equen ly aking some ype o colla e al o secu e i (such
as a house o an au omobile), his new o m o lending complemen s he ma ke by opening lending
as an in es men ehicle di ec ly a ailable o indi iduals, and expanding he oppo uni ies p o ided o
a wide ange o bo owe s wi h, po en ially less es ic ions o cons ain s (such as age,
c edi wo hiness and employabili y).
P2P lending pla o ms o e simple egis a ion p ocesses o bo h bo owe s and lende s alike,
allowing hem o submi de ails o hei c edi needs and unding in e es , espec i ely. A e
9
conduc ing he necessa y due diligence, hey connec bo owe s and lende s o ill loan eques s and
p o ide unding ac oss a ange o isk le els (based on he c edi a ing p o ided o each loan).
The i s su acing o p ac ical, gene ally accep ed and unc ional pla o ms aces back o Zopa, a
B i ish P2P lending company, ounded in 2005 in he UK. Soon a e i , o he companies ollowed he
same model, wi h many non- iable candida es and al e na i es coming o be. O he success ul
pla o ms we e also s a ed in he US, wi h P ospe (2006) and Lending Club (2007) being he mos
no able men ions. They a e cu en ly he wo la ges P2P companies in he US, espec i ely holding
igu es o US$38 billion in issued loans and o e 2.5 million cus ome s o Lending Club and US$13
billion in issued loans and o e 820 housand cus ome s o P ospe (a he ime o w i ing).
Despi e he espec able igu es p esen ed abo e, and he g ow h end e idenced in he sec o (which
is expec ed o g ow o a US$897.85 billion ma ke by 2024), he P2P lending segmen s ill holds a
conside ably small pe cen age o all consume c edi issued, when compa ed o he global igu es o
US$3.9 illion. (T anspa ency Ma ke Resea ch, 2016)
P2P lending pla o ms do, none heless, me i he a en ion hey ecei e. They con inue he end o
disin e media ion ha online business models ha e es ablished in mode n-day In e ne and, hus,
p o ide di ec access o unsecu ed consume c edi as an al e na i e in es men ehicle o indi idual
lende s and do so a a much educed “in e media ion” cos due o de ia ing om he s anda d p ac ice
o adi ional c edi o ganiza ions. They also democ a ize access o consume c edi , by employing he
a o emen ioned model, and b ing i o he each o he o he wise non-c edi wo hy, by applying he
necessa y sa egua ds and adequa ely p icing isk. (He zens ein, And ews, Dholakia, & Lyand es, 2008)
1.1 LENDING CLUB
To allow o be e comp ehension o he da a which will be used in la e chap e s, i is impo an ha
we i s de elop an unde s anding o he subjec unde s udy (Lending Club), by e iewing how i
ope a es and wha ex e nali ies condi ion i s ope a ion.
Figu e 1 – Lending Club’s Business Model
Sou ce: Lending Club Co p Fo m 10-K o Fiscal Yea Ended Decembe 31, 2014. Secu i ies and Exchange Commission.
16
To assess c edi isk, in de eloped ma ke s lende s ypically conside his o ical loan applica ion and
loan pe o mance da a collec ed egula ly om a small numbe o sou ces based on long-s anding
banking and c edi ela ionships o de elop c edi -sco ing models. T adi ional c edi -sco ing models
applying single-pe iod classi ica ion echniques (e.g., logi , p obi ) o classi y c edi cus ome s in o
di e en isk g oups and o es ima e he p obabili y o de aul a e s ill he mos popula da a mining
echniques used in he indus y (Chamboko & B a o, 2016, 2019a,b, 2020). Indi idual classi ie s
employing single s a is ical o ope a ional esea ch me hods include linea and mul iple disc imina e
analysis (DA), logis ic eg ession (LR), p obi analysis, linea and quad a ic p og amming and da a
en elopmen analysis. Classi ie s using machine lea ning me hods such as neu al ne wo ks (NN),
suppo ec o machine (SVM), decision ees (DT), gene ic and e olu iona y algo i hms (GA), and
Bayesian Model Ensembles (BME) ha e also been in es iga ed (Zhao e al., 2017; Asho eh & B a o,
2019, 2021a,b; B a o e al., 2021; B a o & Ayuso, 2020, 2021).
Olson, Delen & Meng (2012) ca y ou an ex ensi e compa ison be ween Decision T ees and o he
con en ional da a mining echniques such as Neu al Ne wo ks and Suppo Vec o Machines in an
a emp o de elop mo e anspa en and anspo able decision suppo ools o p edic ing
bank up cy and simila compa a i e wo k is done by Huang e al. (2004).
Di ick e al. (2017) employ su i al analysis echniques o achie e highe le els o ideli y in calcula ing
a ime ho izon o when a gi en loan will de aul , hus acili a ing a e u n- ocused pe spec i e (as
opposed o bina y classi ie s which a e ubiqui ous in he ield). A simila app oach is aken by
Byanjanka (2017) o he online P2P lending ma ke whe e p omising esul s a e achie ed o
p edic ing he su i al p obabili ies o bo owe s a di e en imes.
Đu o ić (2017) analyses he p obabili y o de aul in a da ase o issued loans om online P2P lending
pla o m Lending Club, by employing a su i al analysis model o analyze he p obabili y o de aul o
loan e m leng h and pu pose. Findings yield ha he e a e iskie loan pu pose classes bu also asse
ha a longe e m is associa ed wi h a highe likelihood o de aul . Tan e al. (2018) s udy a simila
da ase and p opose an app oach elying on di e en ia ing loans based on nega i e ou comes (ei he
“cha ge-o ” o “p e-paymen ”) and, le e aging on deep neu al ne wo ks, ou pe o ming he isk
analysis capabili ies o adi ional isk assessmen capabili ies o adi ional su i al analysis
echniques.
Mezei, Byanjanka & Heikkilä (2018) use linguis ic da a ans o ma ion as a disc e iza ion s ep in
adi ional supe ised lea ning algo i hms o success ully imp o e hei classi ica ion pe o mance.
Byanjanka , Heikkilä & Mezei (2015) de elop a c edi sco ing model using A i icial Neu al Ne wo ks
(ANNs) o e alua e c edi isk in P2P lending, achie ing sa is ac o y esul s.
Mo e comp ehensi e wo ks ackle a a ie y o op ions o de e mining isk. Jin & Zhu (2015) de elop
a mo e comp ehensi e amewo k o app oaching such da ase s and combine an in oduc o y s ep o
iden i ying he de e minan s o isk h ough Random Fo es (RF) and impo ance analysis echniques
o hen se e a mul i ude o da a mining algo i hms o compa ison. They conclude ha SVMs
ou pe o m o he me hods, al hough by a ma ginal amoun . Ca michael (2014) uses a disc e e- ime
haza d model (dynamic logis ic eg ession) o es ima e he p obabili y o de aul o P2P loans. By using
a mix o bo h ha d and so in o ma ion, he model can achie e much be e esul s when compa ed
o he su eyed pla o m’s c edi g ading sys em.

17
3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 THE MODEL - LOGISTIC REGRESSION
In his wo k, we employ a logis ic eg ession model o assess he ac o s ha de e mine he loan
pe o mance o P2P loans. Logis ic eg essions model he p obabili y o an e en occu ing depending
on he alues o a se o independen a iables, p edic ing hei e ec on a bina y a iable esponse
and classi ying obse a ions by es ima ing he p obabili y ha an ou come has in a pa icula ca ego y.
This s a is ical echnique has been he mos widely used in c edi sco ing applica ions (Abdou &
Poin on, 2011) and is conside ed he indus y s anda d o de eloping c edi sco ing models (Ala’ aj &
Abbod, 2015; Lessmann, Baesens, Seow, & Thomas, 2015).
Fo his s udy, loan s a us is ou dependen a iable wi h he ollowing bina y ou come: 0 (ze o) i he
loan s a us is “Fully Paid”, meaning ha bo owe was able o epay he loan and 1 (one) i he loan
s a us is “De aul ”, meaning ha he bo owe is unable o ully pay he loan and de aul
2
. In his
sec ion, he wo k o Hosme J e al. (2013) was closely ollowed.
Conside ing he abo e, he p obabili y o a loan de aul (condi ional p obabili y) gi en he independen
a iable can be w i en as
!"
(
$!=1|(!
)
=*((!)
,
+
whe e he bo owe
,
+will de aul gi en he
in o ma ion
(!
. I his p obabili y is g ea e han 50%, he model p edic s ha he bo owe belongs o
he “De aul ” class, o he wise he model p edic s ha he bo owe ins ead belongs o he “Fully Paid”
class.
The i s s ep o de e mine his p obabili y is o es ima e a linea eg ession+ unc ion:
!(#!) = &' "($")
&'"($")= ((+ (&#!& + ⋯ + ()#!)
+ = 1, 2, … , '0
(1)0
whe e
-"
is a cons an ,
-#
is a ec o o eg ession coe icien s and
(
.
!
is a ec o o independen
a iables. Thus,
#!)
is he alue o he a iable
Χ!#
o he
,$%
bo owe , wi h
0 =1,…,3
(
3
is he
numbe o independen a iables).
Howe e , in a linea eg ession unc ion, he p obabili ies can be less han 0 and g ea e han 1, hence
he model needs o es ic he p obabili y be ween 0 and 1 by including a non-linea unc ion (logi )
on o equa ion (1) ans o ming in o logis ic eg ession unc ion (equa ion 2):
1(#!) = *#(%")
&+*#(%")
0
+ = 1, 2, … , '
0
(2)0
Ha ing he model speci ied, he nex s ep is o es ima e he coe icien s
-"
and
-#
. The me hod used
o i he non-linea model is he Maximum Likelihood Me hod (MLM). This me hod gene a es alues
o he unknown coe icien s ha maximize he p obabili y o ob aining he obse ed se o da a. The
likelihood unc ion is shown in equa ion (3).
2
Please e e o he nex chap e , Da a, o a u he enligh enmen on he a iable loan s a us
18
4(5)=61(#,)-!71 − 1(#,)81−-!
&
!'(
+
+
(3)+
I he a iable
$!
akes he alue 1 ( he bo owe de aul ), he likelihood is
*!
; i no , he likelihood is
equal o
1−*!
. To simpli y, ma hema ically, he op imiza ion o he likelihood unc ion, he loga i hm
o he equa ion is no mally maximized. The log-likelihood is de ined as:
:(5)=ln[4(5)]?3,&'71(#,)8+@1 − 3,A&'71 − 1(#,)8
&
!'(
+
+
(4)+
+
The e o e, o ind he alue o
5
ha maximizes he compu a ion
:
(
5
) we can isola e he cases
-"
and
-#
, se ing he equa ions equal o ze o and sol ing he p oblem o ob ain he desi ed esul . Due
o he nonlinea i y o logis ic eg ession equa ions, so wa e-based compu a ion me hods mus be
le e aged o compu e hem, add essing he i e a i e calcula ions equi ed.
+
3.2 PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS OF THE MODEL
To assess he p edic i e capaci y o ou model, we eco d and compa e i s p edic ions o he ac ual,
known, obse a ions. A T ue Posi i e (TP) occu s whene e a posi i e p edic ion (ou come equal o
“1”, o “de aul ”) made by he model coincides wi h he obse a ion, whe eas a False Posi i e (FP) is
eco ded when he model’s posi i e p edic ion is w ongly classi ied and con adic s he obse a ion.
T ue Nega i es (TN) and False Nega i es (FN) deno e a simila logic, bu o nega i e p edic ions
(ou come equal o “0”, o “ ully paid”).
Table 1 - Con usion Ma ix
Obse ed
Posi i e
Nega i e
P edic ed
Posi i e
TP
FP
Nega i e
FN
TN
Sou ce: Au ho ’s p oduc ion.
To e i y he p edic i e capaci y o ou logis ic eg ession model, i is necessa y o unde s and i s
disc imina ion unc ion. Fo his, and conside ing he abo e con usion ma ix, we can calcula e he
ollowing pe o mance measu es:
Accu acy measu es he o e all a io o co ec ly p edic ed obse a ions and can gi e an o e all iew
o he model's pe o mance. Howe e , looking a his measu e alone can build a alse pe cep ion o
he model due o i s na ow ocus.
19
BCCD"EC$ =FG+F!
FG+F!+IG+I!+
+
(5)+
Sensi i i y co esponds o he p obabili y o he co ec classi ica ion o he e en o in e es o occu ,
i.e., how well he model co ec ly classi ies ue posi i es.
JKLM,N,O,N$ =F!
F!+IG+
+
(6)+
Speci ici y is de ined as he p opo ion o obse a ions co ec ly p edic ed o belong o he nega i e
class.
JPKC,Q,C,N$ =FG
FG+I!+
+
(7)+
Al e na i e me hods o e alua e he pe o mance o a classi ica ion model wi h bina y classes include
he Recei e Ope a ing Cha ac e is ic (ROC) cu e and he A ea Unde he Cu e (AUC) (Wendle &
G ö up, 2016). The ROC shows he alues o which he e is g ea e op imiza ion o Sensi i i y as a
unc ion o Speci ici y, i.e., plo s he ue posi i e a e (TPR o Sensi i i y) o a disc e e classi ie agains
he alse posi i e a e (FPR o 1-Speci ici y). The AUC, in u n, being a unc ion o bo h he TPR and he
FPR, p o ides a measu e o he model’s abili y o di e en ia e be ween classes, o i s disc imina ion
powe – how e ec i ely i can p edic nega i e and posi i e ou comes co ec ly.
As a baseline we can unde s and how he op imal alue o AUC would be 1 – he cu e would pass by
poin (0,1), which would hen maximize AUC and gi e he op imal esul o 100% TPR and 0% FPR.
Con a ily o his, he baseline unc ion d awn o
*
(
(!
) in he ROC cu e plo p o ides he lowe bound
o a model wi hou classi ica ion powe and a calcula ed alue o 0.5 o AUC.
20
4 DATA
This chap e is di ided in o 4 sec ions. In he i s sec ion, “Da a Desc ip ion”, we p o ide a b ie , high-
le el desc ip ion o he da a collec ed. In he second pa , “Da a Re inemen ”, we p oceed o desc ibe
he s eps aken o clean up he da ase and elabo a e on how he da a e inemen was accomplished.
A e ha ea men o he s a ing da ase , we conduc an explo a o y analysis o he new, e ined,
da ase in he hi d sec ion “Explo a o y Da a Analysis”. The e we summa ize he key obse a ions on
a iables o he da ase , iden i ying ou lie s and handling missing alues. A he end o his sec ion, we
p o ide he desc ip i e s a is ics and co ela ion be ween he selec ed a iables.
4.1 DATA DESCRIPTION
The da a unde analysis we e e ie ed om he Lending Club websi e
3
, he la ges P2P lending
pla o m in he Uni ed S a es. The da a collec ed con ains in o ma ion on mo e han 2,200,000 loans
issued h ough he pla o m om 2007 o 2019. Al hough he la es obse a ions in he da ase a e
om Ma ch 2019, i con ains only loans issued un il Decembe 2018. Figu e 2 shows he numbe o
loans issued h oughou he yea s and in i , we can obse e a p ominen g ow h end in he o al
numbe o issued loans un il 2015, whe e he numbe o loans app oxima ely doubles yea - o-yea .
F om 2015 onwa ds he e is s ill an inc ease, bu i is subdued when compa ed o he p e ious ime
ame.
Figu e 2 - Numbe o loans issued by yea
Sou ce: Au ho ’s p oduc ion.
The o iginal da ase is composed o 151 a iables co e ing de ails ac oss 3 main opics, which a e
ocused on: bo owe de ails, loan cha ac e is ics and inal loan s a us (whe e a ailable). Bo owe
in o ma ion includes da a poin s such as occupa ion, employmen de ails, c edi a ing and o he
addi ional in o ma ion which p o ides Lending Club use s wi h an o e iew o who he bo owe is
3
Downloaded om h ps://www.lendingclub.com/in o/download-da a.ac ion
21
and wha hei cu en inancial/labo s a us is. Loan cha ac e is ics include de ails such as he amoun
o he loan, in e es a e, mon hly ins allmen , pu pose o he loan, and o he loan-speci ic elemen s,
ha cla i y how he loan is o be epaid. Finally, he in o ma ion p o ided on he inal loan s a us
in o ms o he la es s a us o he loan, a he ime o obse a ion (i.e. he loan can ei he be paid o ,
de aul ed, o e due o cu en ) and p o ides addi ional con ex , depending on ha same s a us – e.g.
is he e a paymen plan o he de aul ed loan. The ull desc ip ion o all 151 a iables can be ound in
Appendix A. Ou o 151 a iables, we ha e selec ed 22 independen a iables, as no all he a iables
a e ele an o his analysis. The selec ion o he a iables in he s udy is explained u he in he
ollowing sub-sec ions.
4.2 DATA REFINEMENT
In his sec ion, we desc ibe all he s eps in ol ed in he ea men o he da ase and how we ha e
p oceeded o e ine he da a he ein.
The i s s ep in ou ea men o he da ase consis s o na owing down he ime ame unde s udy.
We p oceed o il e ou he loans ha ha e no eached ma u i y ye , o gua an ee consis ency
be ween he da a poin s a ailable. Wi h his, we ha e emo ed all loans wi h a 36-mon h epaymen
e m ha we e issued a e Feb ua y 2016 and all loans wi h a 60-mon h epaymen e m ha we e
issued a e Feb ua y 2014. The loans issued in 2007 we e also emo ed as he bo owe in o ma ion
ini ially eques ed was di e en om he ollowing yea s.
As p e iously men ioned, no all he a iables a e ele an o ou s udy. Ou goal wi hin his sec ion is
o iden i y p edic o s o de aul so ha a he ime o he loan eques , he pla o m can use hose
a iables as a e e ence o decide on whe he o app o e o ejec he loan. Due o his, any a iables
ha a e no a ailable a he ime o he loan applica ion canno be used as p edic o s o c edi
app o al. Fo his eason, we emo ed a iables such as nex _pymn _d, ha dship_ lag, pymn _plan
among o he s ela ed o hese.
We lea e ou some a iables because hey ep esen he same da a as o he s, such as unded_amoun
and unded_amoun _in ha ep esen he same as loan_amn . O he a iables a e also deemed o
no be ele an as hey don’ ha e any impac on he bo owe ’s likelihood o de aul , such as id,
membe _id and policy_code, and gi en his, hey a e also emo ed. We also p oceeded o emo e
da ase columns such as emp_ i le and u l, because hey con ain oo many unique alues, making hem
di icul o ca ego ize and analyze, so we op o lea e hem ou o he s udy.
Ano he eason o dele e columns is he high equency o missing da a in some a iables. We ha e
decided o lea e ou all he a iables wi h mo e han i e pe cen (5%) o missing alues. The e o e,
we ha e le ou a iables such as m hs_since_las _ eco d and m hs_since_las _delinq.
A u he e inemen is conduc ed on he emp_leng h a iable, due o i ha ing a subs an ial olume
o missing alues. To p e en disca ding hese da a poin s (which amoun o app oxima ely 6% o he
o al da ase ), we emploied a ‘binning” echnique and g oup all missing alues in o a sepa a e g oup
labeled “missing”. Figu e 3 illus a es he dis ibu ion o he numbe o obse a ions by he leng h o
employmen .

22
Figu e 3 - Numbe o obse a ions by employmen leng h
Sou ce: Au ho ’s p oduc ion.
I can be obse ed in Figu e 3 ha he majo i y o he ca ego ies ha e a subs an ially educed numbe
o obse a ions when compa ed wi h he ca ego y “10+ yea s”. We chose o agg ega e some
ca ego ies oge he , esul ing in wo new ca ego ies (“0 - 4 yea s” and “5 - 9 yea s”). This s ep was
execu ed o simpli y he ca ego ies a ailable in a iable emp_leng h. Table 2 below shows he new
dis ibu ion o he a iable emp_leng h.
Table 2 - Summa y o he employmen leng h a iable
Missing
0 - 4 yea s
5 - 9 yea s
10+ yea s
41,645
278,428
183,607
231,919
Sou ce: Au ho ’s p oduc ion.
The only o he a iables wi h missing alues we e e ol_u il and pub_ ec_bank up cies, wi h 0.06%
and 0.11% o missing alues, espec i ely. As hese pe cen ages ep esen a o al o 1,208
obse a ions we decided o emo e hese missing alues.
As p e iously s a ed, loan s a us is he dependen a iable o his s udy and i is di ided in o six
ca ego ies desc ibed in Table 3. To adap he a iable o ou model, we ha e o ans o m i in o a
a iable con aining a bina y ou come/ alue, 0 o 1. When he loan_s a us assumes he alue o one
(1) i ep esen s he ailu e o paymen , meaning ha he bo owe is unable o ully pay he loan and
e en ually de aul s. On he o he hand, when loan_s a us assumes he alue ze o (0), his means ha
he bo owe had paid he loan, ul illing he es ablished con ac .
23
Table 3 - Numbe o loans by loan s a us
Ini ial Da a Se Dis ibu ion
Final Da a Se Dis ibu ion
Loan S a us
# o Loans
Loan S a us
# o Loans
Cha ged O
109,258
1 -
De aul
109,797
Cu en
433
0 -
Fully Paid
623,770
Does no mee he c edi
policy. S a us: Cha ged O
539
Does no mee he c edi
policy. S a us: Fully Paid
1,521
Fully Paid
622,249
In G ace Pe iod
40
La e (16-30 days)
34
La e (31-120 days)
317
To al
734,391
To al
733,567
Sou ce: Au ho ’s p oduc ion.
To p oceed wi h he ans o ma ion o he a iable, we ha e emo ed all he loans wi h “Cu en ”
s a us as he bo owe s a e s ill making mon hly paymen s and we don’ ye know he inal s a us.
Loans wi h he “In G ace Pe iod” s a us ep esen he loans ha a e a he mos 15 days wi h a la e
paymen and loan s a uses wi h names “La e (16-30 days)” and “La e (31-120 days)” ep esen he
loans ha e a delayed ins allmen be ween 16-30 and 31-120 days, espec i ely. While hese loans a e
in some way in de aul , we il e ed hem ou in his s udy as he p obabili y o hem being paid back is
signi ican (26% o 72%) compa ed wi h he “De aul ” s a us (11%) (Lending Club, 2019a).
We hen p oceeded o agg ega e he s a us “Cha ged O ” wi h “Does no mee he c edi policy.
S a us: Cha ged O ” in o a newly c ea ed s a us labeled as “De aul ”, since bo h co espond o he
same ou come. The s a us “Does no mee he c edi policy. S a us: Fully Paid” is also combined in o
he “Fully Paid” ca ego y. Table 3 shows he ini ial dis ibu ion o he numbe o loans by s a us and
he inal dis ibu ion a e he adjus men s.
The loan desc ip ion p o ided by he bo owe on why he loan is needed is con ained in he a iable
desc and i is op ional in o ma ion ha mos o he bo owe s lea e blank. The a iable by i sel is
di icul o analyze since his is a ee-s yle ield. To e ie e alue ou o his a iable, we c ea ed a
dummy a iable, w i ing_skills, ha is de i ed om he o iginal use inpu . I he bo owe has le a
desc ip ion on his ield, he o she will ha e au oma ically 10 poin s. Then, we check i he e a e any
spelling mis akes on he desc ip ion - i de ec ed, 2 poin s will be deduc ed om he ini ial 10. We also
check i he ex has no end ma ks, i.e., i i is missing ending punc ua ion - i de ec ed, ano he 2 poin s
will be deduc ed. The possible alues o w i ing_skills a e 0, i he bo owe hasn’ w i en any
desc ip ion, 6 i he e is any wo d misspelled and any missing punc ua ion, 8 i he e is any wo d
misspelled o any missing punc ua ion, and 10 i he e is a desc ip ion wi h no spelling mis akes and
wi h co ec punc ua ion.
Al hough he desc a iable is only illed in by app oxima ely 17% o bo owe s, ea lie wo ks ha e
indica ed ha his a iable may be a good p edic o o de aul (Ca michael, 2014). We employ his
24
composi ion o ex ual analysis me hods o de i e nume ic da a which is easie o analyze and o use
wi hin he con ex o ou p edic ion model.
Las ly, he da e o he ea lies c edi line opened by he bo owe (mon h and yea ) is shown in
ea lies _c _line. We ha e c ea ed a dummy a iable, c edi _his o y, whe e we ha e sub ac ed he
loan’s issue da e by he da e o he ea lies c edi line. We now ha e he numbe o yea s o c edi
his o y conside ing he da e when he bo owe ’s ea lies epo ed c edi line was opened.
The a o emen ioned e inemen s eps esul in he educ ion o a iables om a s a ing base o 151
o a o al o 25. In he sub-sec ion ha ollows we p oceed o analyze he esul ing da ase and conduc
any addi ional e inemen ha may be deemed necessa y, be o e building ou model.
4.3 EXPLORATORY DATA ANALYSIS
To u he e ine ou da ase and o p epa e i o usage in building ou p edic ion model, we ha e
conduc ed an explo a o y analysis o he p o ided da a.
We begin his explo a o y da a analysis by in es iga ing he ou lie s ha may exis on he da ase . Ou
i s inding ocuses on he a iable annual_inc. Table 4 p o ides a summa y o his a iable and a i s
glance, we can de ec some alues ha seem un ealis ic o his da a. The maximum annual income o
$9,000,000 compa ed wi h he median annual income o $62,000 and he 3 d qua ile o $89,000
sugges s ha he e a e some ou lie s. Figu e 4 shows he dis ibu ion o bo owe s’ annual income.
Obse ing Table 4 along wi h Figu e 4, we can con i m he e idence o ou lie s.
Table 4 - Summa y o he annual income a iable
Min.
1s Qu.
Median
Mean
3 d Qu.
Max.
0
45,000
62,000
73,689
89,000
9,000,000
Sou ce: Au ho ’s p oduc ion.
A deepe analysis o he emaining in o ma ion p o ided o hese obse a ions shows ha he
majo i y o he bo owe s a e eques ing small loan amoun s o deb consolida ion. Taking all hese
de ails in o accoun , we conside hese eco ds o be he esul o human e o and, he e o e, we
ha e limi ed he highes alue o annual income o $1,000,000. In o al, he e we e 139 obse a ions
emo ed.
25
Figu e 4 - Dis ibu ion o annual income
Sou ce: Au ho ’s p oduc ion.
Ano he inding conce ns he d i a iable (deb - o-income a io), which ep esen s he a io o he
bo owe ’s o al mon hly deb paymen s o e hei mon hly income. Figu e 5 displays he boxplo o
he a iable d i.
Figu e 5 - D i ou lie s
Sou ce: Au ho ’s p oduc ion.
In obse ing Figu e 5 i becomes no iceable ha he majo i y o loans a e concen a ed in he ange o
alues be ween 10 and 25 and he e is e idence o se e al ou lie s. We belie e ha hese ou lie s a e
caused by an e o as he da a p o ided would indica e ha some bo owe s ha e signi ican ly mo e
ou s anding deb han hei cu en income – we also obse ed he alue o d i o be inconsis en wi h
some o he o he da a poin s p o ided, o some bo owe s – hus, we ha e emo ed all he ou lie s.
Compa ed wi h o he s udies, o ins ance, Ca michael (2014), Emek e e al. (2015) and Möllenkamp
(2017), we can see ha a e he emo al o he ou lie s, he maximum alue o his a iable is as
expec ed. The exclusion o d i’s ou lie s dec eases ou da ase by 484 obse a ions.
32
The same happens wi h he in e es a e. This a iable is also highly signi ican on he p edic ion o he
de aul ha wi h he inc ease o he a e, he p obabili y o de aul also inc eases. This inding is
consis en wi h he indings in Figu e 6 ep esen ed in he p e ious chap e .
Loan amoun and e m a e o he a iables o be highly signi ican in p edic ing he ailu e o he loan
paymen . The posi i e sign on hese a iables sugges s ha bo owe s wi h a la ge loan amoun and
a longe pe iod o loan paymen a e mo e likely o de aul . E e y hing else equal, his p o es ha
bo owe s who eques la ge loan amoun s on a longe - e m and he e o e will ha e la ge
ins allmen s o a longe pe iod o paymen a e mo e likely o ail he paymen s.
The a iable home owne ship shows ha a bo owe paying en o owning a house is mo e likely o
de aul han a bo owe ha pays a mo gage. These esul s a e in line wi h he da a p e iously
e ealed on he explo a o y analysis whe e hese wo ca ego ies ha e a highe de aul a e han he
la e one.
Fu he o his, he wo ca ego ies ha ha e some kind o e i ica ion on he a iable e i ica ion s a us
a e also highly signi ican p edic o s. The esul s a e in line wi h he da a examined in he p e ious
chap e . This may sugges ha Lending Club e i ies he bo owe s ha hey belie e o ha e a highe
isk o de aul .
Annual income, FICO and d i a e also highly signi ican a iables. The nega i e sign on he wo i s
a iables implies ha a bo owe wi h a highe income and a g ea e FICO sco e is less likely o de aul .
Con a ily, he las o hese a iables wi h a posi i e sign indica es ha bo owe s wi h highe amoun s
o deb s uggle mo e o epay hei loans.
The bo owe ’s pu pose o eques ing a loan has 14 ca ego ies. O hose 14, 10 ca ego ies a e
signi ican a di e en le els. Bo owe s needing a loan o help hem inance hei “educa ion”, “small
business” o “medical expenses” a e iskie bo owe s han hose who a e inancing hei “wedding”,
“ aca ion” o epaying hei “c edi ca d” deb . Ac ually, he ca ego y “wedding” egis e s a nega i e
co ela ion wi h he likelihood o de aul e ealing o be he only pu pose ha a ec s nega i ely he
p obabili y o de aul wi h an OR o 0.824.
On he a iable employmen leng h, al hough he ca ego y 5-9 yea s is signi ican (a 5% le el), only
he ca ego y “missing” is highly signi ican a he 0.1% le el. Also, he la e has a coe icien wi h a
posi i e sign and OR o 1.516, ha ing a big impac on he likelihood o de aul . The ca ego y 10+ yea s,
despi e no being signi ican , is he only one om his a iable wi h a nega i e sign, ha ing he opposi e
e ec on he p obabili y o de aul . These esul s a e aligned wi h he da a in Table 12 o Appendix C.
A possible jus i ica ion o he inc eased likelihood o a bo owe de aul ing, when egis e ed unde
he “missing” ca ego y, may be due o him being unemployed and, hence, being mo e likely o de aul .
Rega ding he a iables ela ed o he c edi his o y o he bo owe , inqui ies las 6 mon hs, open
accoun s, e ol ing balance, e ol ing line u iliza ion a e and c edi his o y a e also highly signi ican .
This is in line wi h ou expec a ions, inqui ies las 6 mon hs and open accoun s show he bo owe s
lack epaymen o a loan, inc easing he p obabili y o de aul . On he o he hand, e ol ing balance,
e ol ing line u iliza ion a e, and c edi his o y show a nega i e ela ionship wi h he likelihood o
de aul o a bo owe .

33
Su p isingly, he a iable cha ged o wi hin 12 mon hs has a nega i e impac on he p obabili y o
de aul o he bo owe , i.e., he bo owe wi h mo e cha ge-o s (on o he loans) in he las 12 mon hs
is mo e likely o ully pay back he loan.
The a iable w i ing skills is highly signi ican and a ec s he p obabili y o de aul nega i ely. When
he alue o w i ing skills inc eases, he p obabili y o he bo owe paying also inc eases.
Rega ding public eco ds, he a iable seems no o ha e any signi icance on he model in es iga ed,
howe e has an odds a io o 1.011, which is highe han o he a iables wi h a highe le el o
signi icance.
5.2 MODEL PERFORMANCE
The p edic i e capaci y o he model was es ed by le e aging he emaining 33% o he sample da ase
which we e no used o building ou logis ic eg ession model (i.e. used in he “ aining” se ). We hen
p oceeded o use his “ es ing” se o e ie e a se ies o pe o mance me ics o analyze he model,
as desc ibed in sec ion 3.2.
Table 7 p o ides he summa y o he ou comes in a con ingency able.
Table 7 - Con usion Ma ix
Obse ed
Posi i e
Nega i e
P edic ed
Posi i e
207745
79
Nega i e
36292
64
Sou ce: Au ho ’s p oduc ion.
Based on he alues o he abo e able, we calcula ed he ollowing pe o mance measu es.
Table 8 - Model Pe o mance Measu es
Accu acy
0.851
Sensi i i y
0.851
Speci ici y
0.448
Sou ce: Au ho ’s p oduc ion.
The accu acy alue o he es da ase in he s udy has a e y good ou come. Ne e heless, we ha e in
mind ha his esul is dependen on he manual spli o he da a ha we did ea lie and ha his
measu e alone is no a eliable indica o o he model’s pe o mance.
Conce ning he o he wo measu es, he model pe o ms be e in dis inguishing bo owe s ha
de aul ed han bo owe s ha ully paid, as i yields be e esul s o sensi i i y han speci ici y.
Figu e 8 shows he ROC cu e o ou model. As we can obse e, he cu e is e y close o he baseline
(black line ha ep esen s he balance TPR=FPR).
34
Figu e 8 - ROC Cu e
Sou ce: Au ho ’s p oduc ion.
By e iewing he AUC indica o , i s esul e eals a alue o 0.6835, showing ha , al hough ou model
can accu a ely p edic loans ha will de aul , i is a less capable a p edic ing loans ha will no do
so. This ep esen s a lack o abili y o di e en ia e be ween he 2 classes o ou dependen a iable –
“de aul ” VS “ ully paid”.
We can conclude om he esul s and ela ed pe o mance measu es ha he model’s classi ica ion
powe is a he bes “a e age”. We belie e ha his lack o quali y may be due o he imbalanced
classi ica ion in ou dependen a iable as i is a common limi a ion wi hin loan classi ica ions and
c edi isk modeling. As pe Singh, Tsai, & Ramiah (2014), his imbalance nega i ely impac s algo i hms
such as Logis ic Reg ession ha op imizes ac oss he en i e aining se .
35
6 CONCLUSIONS
In an inc easingly inancialized wo ld, whe e new inancial echnologies and se ice models keep on
dis up ing he es ablished and adi ional p ac ices and indus ies, pee - o-pee (P2P) lending seeks o
democ a ize access o c edi o a wide ange o bo owe s (including hose deemed by con en ional
inance o be non-c edi wo hy) and also o unsecu ed consume deb , o a wide ange o in es o s.
In doing so, i is b idging a demand and a supply gap which cu en ly exis s in his la gely un apped
ma ke .
Lending Club, being one o he pionee s and bigges P2P lending pla o ms, p o ides a good objec o
s udy and aluable insigh in o he inne wo kings o hese pla o ms and hei abili y o adequa ely
p edic he isk o c edi de aul . This las unc ion u ns Lending Club (and o he analogous pla o ms)
in o mo e han jus a media o connec ing supply and demand, assigning i he esponsibili y o
cu a ing and a es ing bo owe in o ma ion and isk.
In he beginning o his wo k, we se ou o s udy a da ase o loan obse a ions om he Lending Club
pla o m, con aining in o ma ion o loans issued be ween 2007 and 2018. Wi h i we endea o ed o
u he he cu en unde s anding and es ablished knowledge o wha a e he de e minan s o loan
de aul and wha pe o mance we can expec om a p edic ion model buil a op his da a.
In o de o achie e his, we i s conduc ed a cleaning and e inemen o he da a se , elimina ing
inco ec and missing da a, whe e equi ed. This p ocess was ollowed by an explo a o y analysis o
he ou pu ed da a, o gain an o e all unde s anding o he exis ing a iables, hei co ela ion and
d i ing he selec ion o he inal a iables o be used o ou s udy o de e minan s o de aul .
To u he ou analysis, we buil a logis ic eg ession model o analyze he da ase using he s epwise
backwa d echnique in o de o a i e a a inal, model-de i ed, se o independen a iables ha we e
he mos signi ican o p edic ing loan de aul .
Ou analysis aims a es ablishing a li ecycle o e iewing and unde s anding bo owe de aul based on
ha d da a eadily a ailable o he in es o (o o P2P lending pla o ms). Unlike p io wo k, which
ocused on de eloping p edic i e models o iden i ying he de e minan s o de aul , ou wo k lays ou
and end- o-end ounda ion o unde s anding he cha ac e is ics o bo owe s loans wi hin a pla o m
(o se o loan obse a ions), iden i ying de e minan s o de aul , building a p edic i e model and
analyzing i s e icacy in p edic ing loan de aul .
Ou esul s seem o be consis en wi h exis ing li e a u e (Ca michael, 2014; Emek e e al., 2015;
Polena & Regne , 2018; Se ano-Cinca e al., 2015) and sugges ha he a iables which bes explain
(o p edic ) he bo owe s likelihood o de aul a e g ade, loan amoun , in e es a e, e m, annual
income, home owne ship, deb - o-income a io, FICO sco e, inqui ies in las 6 mon hs, numbe o open
accoun s and c edi his o y.
The mos ele an independen a iable is he g ade o a bo owe (as assigned by Lending Club) which,
ha ing he highes odds a io, p esen s he bes p edic o o loan de aul . The highe he g ade o a
gi en loan (“A” being he highes g ade and “G” he lowes , in alphabe ical o de ), he highe he
likelihood ha i will be ully epaid.
36
Finally, al hough ou model has shown a high accu acy a e o 0.8511, he AUC analysis p oduced a
esul o 0.6835, meaning ha he o e all pe o mance o ou model, as ep esen ed by i s abili y o
dis inguish be ween classes (i.e. bo owe s ha will de aul VS bo owe s ha will ully pay back a
loan) is a om excellen and, a bes , medioc e.
In summa y, al hough ou model has been able o e ec i ely p edic de aul ed loans, i s esul s ha e
yielded a signi ican amoun o “ alse nega i es”, i.e. ully paid loans ha we e p edic ed o de aul .
We ex apola e om his ha , al hough oppo uni ies may be missed o und good quali y loans, i is
bes o e on he side o cau ion when dealing wi h unsecu ed consume deb .
6.1 LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE WORK
Th oughou his wo k, we iden i ied se e al limi a ions and cons ain s ha may ha e hinde ed ou
in es iga ion and i s subsequen esul s. We p esen hose in his sec ion and also a emp o lay ou
he ounda ion o u u e wo k o build upon he esul s p o ided he ein.
Du ing he ini ial analysis and clean-up/ e inemen o ou da ase , we we e o ced o emo e a
subs an ial numbe o a iables and loan obse a ions due o missing da a o inco ec ly illed ou
o ms. This app oach, al hough consis en wi h es ablished da a analysis p ac ices, may ha e caused
he loss o po en ially aluable da a poin s o he s udy.
We hypo hesize ha he cause o his p oblem, wi h a special ocus on inco ec ly p o ided da a, is
likely ied o he ac ha hese pla o ms allow o he manual in oduc ion o da a by use s. Such
pla o ms also lack he manpowe o capaci y o handle and p ope ly e 100% o he da a which hey
ecei e.
Wi h ega ds o he esul s ob ained wi h he de eloped logis ic eg ession model, we es ima e ha
he medioc e p edic i e pe o mance, which we achie ed, is a p oduc o he da ase being
imbalanced. This is a common issue in c edi da ase s as hese will la gely con ain a disp opo iona e
amoun o non-de aul ed loans (85% o non-de aul ed loans in ou da ase ) and one ha nega i ely
impac s he p edic i e capaci y o logis ic eg ession models (Singh e al., 2014).
37
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48
8.3 APPENDIX C
Table 11 - Desc ip i e S a is ics o Nume ical Va iables
Sou ce: Au ho ’s p oduc ion.
Va iables
Mean
S d.De
Min
Median
Max
A e age by loan
s a us
Fully Paid
De aul
Annual Income
73,250
49,039
3,000
62,000
1,000,000
74,563
65,787
Cha ged O wi hin 12
mon hs
0.01
0.11
0
0
10
0.01
0.01
C edi His o y
16.12
7.56
1
15
71
16.25
15.40
Delinquency pas 2
yea s
0.31
0.86
0
0
30
0.31
0.34
Deb - o-Income
17.64
8.20
0
17.15
41.21
17.36
19.20
FICO
695
31
640
690
845
697
687
Inqui ies las 6 mon hs
0.70
1
0
0
17
0.67
0.88
In e es a e
12.42
4.17
5.32
12.29
28.99
12.06
14.47
Loan Amoun
13,202
8,090
500
11,000
35,000
13,172
13,372
Open Accoun s
11.31
5.22
1
10
84
11.28
11.48
Public Reco ds
0.20
0.59
0
0
86
0.19
0.23
Public Reco d
Bank up cies
0.12
0.36
0
0
12
0.12
0.14
Re ol ing Balance
16,032
22,095
0
11,053
2,904,836
16,289
14,573
Re ol ing line
u iliza ion a e
54.07
23.95
0
54.80
892.30
53.56
56.98
Tax Liens
0.05
0.40
0
0
85.00
0.05
0.05
W i ing Skills
1.51
3.39
0
0
10
1.50
1.53

49
Table 12 - Desc ip i e S a is ics o Ca ego ical Va iables
Va iables
# issued loans (%)
De aul a e (%)
Employmen Leng h
0 – 4 yea s
277,107
(37.8%)
15.0%
5 – 9 yea s
182,924
(25.0%
15.0%
10+ yea s
231,027
(31.5%)
13.8%
Missing
41,482
(5.7%)
21.0%
G ade
A
156,599
(21.4%)
5.5%
B
238,806
(32.6%)
11.4%
C
195,344
(26.7%)
18.5%
D
94,012
(12.8%)
24.2%
E
34,607
(4.7%)
29.8%
F
10,974
(1.5%)
34.8%
G
2,198
(0.3%)
37.9%
Home Owne ship
Mo gage
350,431
(47.8%)
12.8%
Own
73,809
(10.1%)
15.5%
Ren
308,300
(42.1%)
17.3%
Pu pose
Ca
8,371
(1.1%)
11.9%
C edi ca d
173,984
(23.8%)
12.4%
Deb consolida ion
418,877
(57.2%)
15.8%
Educa ional
361
(0.05%)
20.2%
Home imp o emen
42,686
(5.8%)
13.2%
House
3,235
(0.4%)
18.9%
Majo pu chase
15,314
(2.1%)
13.3%
Medical
7,999
(1.1%)
17.5%
Mo ing
5,195
(0.7%)
19.5%
O he
39,582
(5.4%)
17.1%
Renewable ene gy
554
(0.1%)
19.7%
Small business
9,317
(1.3%)
24.4%
Vaca ion
4,748
(0.6%)
16.1%
Wedding
2,317
(0.3%)
12.3%
Te m
36 mon hs
668,970
(91.3%)
14.0%
60 mon hs
63,570
(8.7%)
25.3%
Ve i ica ion S a us
Sou ce Ve i ied
255,845
(34.9%)
15.1%
Ve i ied
242,057
(33.0%)
18.0%
No Ve i ied
234,638
(32.0%)
11.7%
Sou ce: Au ho ’s p oduc ion.
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