Pawnproking
Copyright 2007
Janice L. Francis
All Rights Reserved
I would like to dedicate this to my husband, my children and all my grandchildren for their unfailing patience and helpfulness while I worked on this dissertation.
PAWNBROKING: ORGANIZATION AND ROLE
OF AN INDUSTRY IN TRANSITION
by
JANICE L. FRANCIS, A.A., B.A., MPA
DISSERTATION
Presented to the Faculty of
The University of Texas at Dallas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN
PUBLIC POLICY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS
May 2007
A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Mark Stallo who helped me acquire a deep understanding of the how pawnshops and criminals operate and the interaction between them. I would also like to thank Frances Fass for her aid in transforming all my data into a useful form. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Simon Fass for his aid and encouragement, without which I could never have completed this dissertation.
March 2007
v
PAWNBROKING: ORGANIZATION AND ROLE
OF AN INDUSTRY IN TRANSITION
Publication No. ___________________
Janice L. Francis, Ph.D.
The University of Texas at Dallas, 2007
Supervising Professor:
Simon M. Fass
ABSTRACT
Pawnbroking is an industry that straddles two economic domains; finance and retail trade.
The business is ever evolving, exploring new ways to continue a very old service.
Recent research suggests the explosive growth in pawnshop numbers over the last thirty years is directly related to the increase in the “unbanked” population as banks leave the inner-city. Literature about the industry is sparse, with much built on prior works. This research explores the factors linked to the rapid increase in shops with a combination of data derived mostly from Dallas, Texas. It is composed of data from the Dallas Police’s electronic record of all pawn transactions in Dallas between 1991 and 2001 and a random selection of pawn tickets.
Janice L. Francis
All Rights Reserved
I would like to dedicate this to my husband, my children and all my grandchildren for their unfailing patience and helpfulness while I worked on this dissertation.
PAWNBROKING: ORGANIZATION AND ROLE
OF AN INDUSTRY IN TRANSITION
by
JANICE L. FRANCIS, A.A., B.A., MPA
DISSERTATION
Presented to the Faculty of
The University of Texas at Dallas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN
PUBLIC POLICY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS
May 2007
A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Mark Stallo who helped me acquire a deep understanding of the how pawnshops and criminals operate and the interaction between them. I would also like to thank Frances Fass for her aid in transforming all my data into a useful form. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Simon Fass for his aid and encouragement, without which I could never have completed this dissertation.
March 2007
v
PAWNBROKING: ORGANIZATION AND ROLE
OF AN INDUSTRY IN TRANSITION
Publication No. ___________________
Janice L. Francis, Ph.D.
The University of Texas at Dallas, 2007
Supervising Professor:
Simon M. Fass
ABSTRACT
Pawnbroking is an industry that straddles two economic domains; finance and retail trade.
The business is ever evolving, exploring new ways to continue a very old service.
Recent research suggests the explosive growth in pawnshop numbers over the last thirty years is directly related to the increase in the “unbanked” population as banks leave the inner-city. Literature about the industry is sparse, with much built on prior works. This research explores the factors linked to the rapid increase in shops with a combination of data derived mostly from Dallas, Texas. It is composed of data from the Dallas Police’s electronic record of all pawn transactions in Dallas between 1991 and 2001 and a random selection of pawn tickets.