Microdata on Bankrupcy

Question

A Graduate student in Business is looking for microdata on a snapshot of a person and his/her personal finances at time of bankruptcy. Specifically, data such as the person's credit card debt, outstanding mortgage loan, outstanding car loan, age, race, sex, income, etc.

He’s found US data (PACER http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/) and hopes there's something similar in Canada.

We’ve found the SLID and SCF variables that ask if respondents have ever declared bankruptcy, but these don’t get at the state of being IN bankruptcy.

Thanks!


Answer

The General Social Survey (GSS) cycle 21 Social Support and Retirement (2007) and the Survey of the Self-Employed (2000) PUMFs also have variables that ask respondents if they have ever declared bankruptcy. In GSS 21, they also ask at what age the respondent experienced bankruptcy and how many times.

The Office of Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada (http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/bsf-osb.nsf/eng/h_br01991.html) provides demographic and economic profiles of insolvent consumers in the Statistics section of its website. ex. Overview of Canadian Insolvency Statistics up to 2006 (http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/bsf-osb.nsf/eng/br01770.html#graph5). This website also includes a Bankruptcy and Insolvency Records Database that may be of interest to the student as well.