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Weak Corporate Insolvency Rules: The Missing Driver of Zombie Lending

Author

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  • Bo Becker
  • Victoria Ivashina

Abstract

"Zombie lending"—lending to less-productive firms at subsidized rates—can help banks with misaligned incentives in the short run, but it prolongs economic downturns. We propose that inefficient resolution of insolvency is a significant contributor to this problem. We exploit variation in the efficiency of insolvency across countries to show that lack of formal bankruptcies, cheap (zombie) credit, and stickiness of existing creditors is more common in bad economic periods when insolvency works less well.

Suggested Citation

  • Bo Becker & Victoria Ivashina, 2022. "Weak Corporate Insolvency Rules: The Missing Driver of Zombie Lending," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 112, pages 516-520, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:apandp:v:112:y:2022:p:516-20
    DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20221078
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Biswajit Banerjee & Risto Herrala, 2024. "Testing the impact of liquidation speed on leverage using Indian data," Working Papers 113, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    2. Liu, Chun & Liang, Shilin & Sun, Liang, 2024. "Unintended consequences of the introduction of specialized bankruptcy courts: evidence from zombie lending," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    3. Martin Kornejew & Chen Lian & Yueran Ma & Pablo Ottonello & Diego J. Perez, 2024. "Bankruptcy Resolution and Credit Cycles," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2024, volume 39, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Edward I. Altman & Rui Dai & Wei Wang, 2024. "Global zombie companies: measurements, determinants, and outcomes," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(6), pages 723-744, August.
    5. Banerjee, Biswajit & Herrala, Risto, 2024. "Testing the impact of liquidation speed on leverage using Indian data," BOFIT Discussion Papers 6/2024, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    6. Viral V. Acharya & Matteo Crosignani & Tim Eisert & Christian Eufinger, 2024. "Zombie Credit and (Dis‐)Inflation: Evidence from Europe," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 79(3), pages 1883-1929, June.
    7. Christian Keuschnigg & Michael Kogler & Johannes Matt, 2022. "Banks, Credit Reallocation, and Creative Destruction," CESifo Working Paper Series 10093, CESifo.
    8. Closset, Frédéric & Großmann, Christoph & Kaserer, Christoph & Urban, Daniel, 2023. "Corporate restructuring and creditor power: Evidence from European insolvency law reforms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    9. Alper, Koray & Baskaya, Soner & Shi, Shuren, 2025. "How do macroprudential policies affect corporate investment? Insights from EIBIS data," EIB Working Papers 2025/02, European Investment Bank (EIB).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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