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Buiding legal indexes to explain recovery rates: An analysis of the French and English bankrupcy codes

Author

Listed:
  • Régis Blazy

    (EM Strasbourg - École de Management de Strasbourg = EM Strasbourg Business School)

  • Bertrand Chopard

    (EconomiX - EconomiX - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Nirjhar Nigam

    (ICN Business School, CEREFIGE - Centre Européen de Recherche en Economie Financière et Gestion des Entreprises - UL - Université de Lorraine)

Abstract

The paper analyzes the characteristics of bankruptcy procedures that may impact on creditors' recoveries. We propose 132 legal indexes accounting for the main functions of bankruptcy codes: namely, the accessibility of the procedures, their ability to disclose information, the protection of debtor's assets, the coordination of the claimants and their decision power, and the sanction of management. The French procedures are more protective of the debtor's assets and prioritize the coordination of claims. In England, liquidation procedures protect more secured claims, while unsecured creditors have more decision power under reorganization procedures. Our indexes are then used to explain recovery rates on a set of 833 bankrupt SMEs. Several bankruptcy rules are associated with higher recoveries: namely, accessibility of the procedure, protection of the debtor's assets, protection of claims, and sanction of faulty management. On the contrary, information disclosure has negative impact on recoveries, probably due to the breach in confidentiality.

Suggested Citation

  • Régis Blazy & Bertrand Chopard & Nirjhar Nigam, 2013. "Buiding legal indexes to explain recovery rates: An analysis of the French and English bankrupcy codes," Post-Print hal-01514536, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01514536
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2012.10.024
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Nicolae Stef, 2017. "Bankruptcy and the difficulty of firing," Working Papers hal-04141644, HAL.
    2. Stef, Nicolae, 2022. "How does legal design affect the initiation of a firm's bankruptcy?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    3. Stef, Nicolae & Zenou, Emmanuel, 2021. "Management-to-staff ratio and a firm's exit," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 252-260.
    4. Stef, Nicolae & Dimelis, Sophia, 2020. "Bankruptcy regime and the banking system," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 480-495.
    5. Régis Blazy & Joël Petey & Laurent Weill, 2018. "Serving the creditors after insolvency filings: from value creation to value distribution," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 331-375, April.
    6. Jaka Cepec & Peter Grajzl & Katarina Zajc, 2016. "Debt Recovery in Firm Liquidations: Do Liquidation Trustees Matter?," Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia, Finanza e Statistica 24/2016, Università di Perugia, Dipartimento Economia.
    7. Nicolae Stef, 2017. "Bankruptcy and the difficulty of firing," EconomiX Working Papers 2017-26, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    8. Cepec, Jaka & Grajzl, Peter, 2020. "Debt-to-equity conversion in bankruptcy reorganization and post-bankruptcy firm survival," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    9. Régis Blazy & Nirjhar Nigam, 2019. "Corporate insolvency procedures in England: the uneasy case for liquidations," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 89-123, February.
    10. Chris Godfrey & Chris Brooks, 2015. "The Negative Credit Risk Premium Puzzle: A Limits to Arbitrage Story," ICMA Centre Discussion Papers in Finance icma-dp2015-07, Henley Business School, University of Reading.
    11. Ludovico Maria Cocco & Elisa Cavezzali & Ugo Rigoni & Giorgia Simion, 2024. "How does soft information on the causes of default affect debt renegotiation? The Italian evidence," Annals of Finance, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 45-89, March.
    12. Ayadi, Rim & Abid, Ilyes & Guesmi, Khaled, 2021. "Survival of reorganized firms in France," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    13. Régis BLAZY & Nicolae STEF, 2015. "How do bankruptcy systems perform in Eastern Europe?," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2015-07, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    14. Blazy, Régis & Martel, Jocelyn & Nigam, Nirjhar, 2014. "The choice between informal and formal restructuring: The case of French banks facing distressed SMEs," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 248-263.
    15. Stef, Nicolae, 2018. "Bankruptcy and the difficulty of firing," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 85-94.
    16. Stef, Nicolae & Bissieux, Jean-Joachim, 2022. "Resolution of corporate insolvency during COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence from France," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    17. Jose M Garrido & Mr. Wolfgang Bergthaler & Ms. Chanda M DeLong & Juliet Johnson & Amira Rasekh & Anjum Rosha & Natalia Stetsenko, 2019. "The Use of Data in Assessing and Designing Insolvency Systems," IMF Working Papers 2019/027, International Monetary Fund.
    18. Stef, Nicolae & Ben Jabeur, Sami & Scherer, Robert F., 2022. "Time to resolve insolvency and political elections," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    19. Nicolae Stef, 2023. "Bankruptcy voting process and corporate reorganization," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(2), pages 508-524, April.
    20. Jaka Cepec & Peter Grajzl & Katarina Zajc, 2016. "Debt Recovery in Firm Liquidations: Do Liquidation Trustees Matter?," CESifo Working Paper Series 6034, CESifo.
    21. Redha Fares, 2022. "Bankruptcy, Performance and Market Selection: Evidence from Firms in France," Erudite Ph.D Dissertations, Erudite, number ph22-01 edited by Claude Mathieu.
    22. Régis Blazy & Nicolae Stef, 2020. "Bankruptcy procedures in the post-transition economies," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 7-64, August.
    23. Sylwia Morawska & Michal Lukowski & Kamil Gemra & Waldemar Rogowski & Przemyslaw Banasik & Blazej Prusak, 2021. "Financial Markets and Bankruptcy Systems: Is there a Relationship?," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(1), pages 735-747.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bankruptcy; Recoveries; Legal indexes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law

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