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Bankruptcy and the Cost of Organized Labor: Evidence from Union Elections

Author

Listed:
  • Murillo Campello
  • Janet Gao
  • Jiaping Qiu
  • Yue Zhang

Abstract

Unionized workers are entitled to special treatment in bankruptcy court that can be detrimental to other corporate stakeholders, with unsecured creditors standing to lose the most. Using data on union elections, we employ a regression discontinuity design to identify the effect of worker unionization on bondholders in bankruptcy states. Closely won union elections lead to significant bond value losses, especially when firms approach bankruptcy, have underfunded pension plans, and operate in non-RTW law states. Unionization is associated with longer, more convoluted, and costlier bankruptcy court proceedings. Unions depress bondholders’ recovery values as they are assigned seats on creditors’ committees. Received September 19, 2016; editorial decision September 19, 2017 by Editor David Denis. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University PressWeb site next to the link to the final published paper online.

Suggested Citation

  • Murillo Campello & Janet Gao & Jiaping Qiu & Yue Zhang, 2018. "Bankruptcy and the Cost of Organized Labor: Evidence from Union Elections," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(3), pages 980-1013.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:31:y:2018:i:3:p:980-1013.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rfs/hhx117
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    Cited by:

    1. Zaman, Rashid, 2024. "When corporate culture matters: The case of stakeholder violations," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(1).
    2. Jie He & Xuan Tian & Huan Yang & Luo Zuo, 2020. "Asymmetric Cost Behavior and Dividend Policy," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(4), pages 989-1021, September.
    3. Omesh Kini & Mo Shen & Jaideep Shenoy & Venkat Subramaniam, 2022. "Labor Unions and Product Quality Failures," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(7), pages 5403-5440, July.
    4. Joshua D Gottlieb & Richard R Townsend & Ting Xu, 2022. "Does Career Risk Deter Potential Entrepreneurs?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(9), pages 3973-4015.
    5. Zhuo, Chengfeng & Xie, Yuping & Mao, Yanhua & Chen, Pengqin & Li, Yiqiao, 2022. "Can cross-regional environmental protection promote urban green development: Zero-sum game or win-win choice?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    6. Woon Sau Leung & Jing Li & Jiong Sun, 2020. "Labor Unionization and Supply‐Chain Partners’ Performance," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(5), pages 1325-1353, May.
    7. Kim, Jeong-Bon & Zhang, Eliza Xia & Zhong, Kai, 2021. "Does unionization affect the manager–shareholder conflict? Evidence from firm-specific stock price crash risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    8. Behr, Patrick & Wang, Weichao & Adasi Manu, Sylvester, 2024. "Bank's balance sheet management as a bargaining tool: Evidence from Brazilian labor strikes," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    9. Chao, Chi-Chur & Ee, Mong Shan, 2024. "Does unionization reduce wage inequality? New evidence from business dynamism," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 690-703.
    10. Ghaly, Mohamed & Kostakis, Alexandros & Stathopoulos, Konstantinos, 2021. "The (non-) effect of labor unionization on firm risk: Evidence from the options market," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    11. Magnus Schauf & Eline Schoonjans, 2022. "Better Safe than Sorry: Toxic Waste Management after Unionization," Working Papers 220, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    12. Dang, Viet A. & De Cesari, Amedeo & Phan, Hieu V., 2021. "Employment protection and share repurchases: Evidence from wrongful discharge laws," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    13. Di Giuli, Alberta & Matta, Rafael & Romec, Arthur, 2023. "Capital structure and reversible bargaining tools: Evidence from union-sponsored shareholder proposals," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    14. David A. Matsa, 2018. "Capital Structure and a Firm’s Workforce," NBER Working Papers 25125, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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