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Reorganization or Liquidation: Bankruptcy Choice and Firm Dynamics

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  • Dean Corbae
  • Pablo D'Erasmo

Abstract

In this paper, we ask how bankruptcy law affects the financial decisions of corporations and its implications for firm dynamics. According to current U.S. law, firms have two bankruptcy options: Chapter 7 liquidation and Chapter 11 reorganization. Using Compustat data, we first document capital structure and investment decisions of non-bankrupt, Chapter 11, and Chapter 7 firms. Using those data moments, we then estimate parameters of a firm dynamics model with endogenous entry and exit to include both bankruptcy options in a general equilibrium environment. Finally, we evaluate a bankruptcy policy change recommended by the American Bankruptcy Institute that amounts to a “fresh start” for bankrupt firms. We find that changes to the law can have sizable consequences for borrowing costs and capital structure which via selection affects productivity (allocative efficiency rises by 2.58%) and welfare (rises by 0.54%).

Suggested Citation

  • Dean Corbae & Pablo D'Erasmo, 2017. "Reorganization or Liquidation: Bankruptcy Choice and Firm Dynamics," NBER Working Papers 23515, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23515
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Reorganization or Liquidation: Bankruptcy Choice and Firm Dynamics
      by Christian Zimmermann in NEP-DGE blog on 2017-07-08 01:51:40

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    3. Michael L. McIntyre, 2022. "Capital structure in an option-theoretic setting," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(8), pages 1-24, August.
    4. Heller, Yuval & Peleg Lazar, Sharon & Raviv, Alon, 2022. "Banks’ risk taking and creditors’ bargaining power," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Aili Zhang & Ping Chen & Shuanming Li & Wenyuan Wang, 2020. "Risk Modelling on Liquidations with L\'{e}vy Processes," Papers 2007.01426, arXiv.org.
    6. Antill, Samuel & Grenadier, Steven R., 2019. "Optimal capital structure and bankruptcy choice: Dynamic bargaining versus liquidation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(1), pages 198-224.
    7. Amir Kermani & Yueran Ma, 2020. "Two Tales of Debt," NBER Working Papers 27641, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Zhang, Aili & Chen, Ping & Li, Shuanming & Wang, Wenyuan, 2022. "Risk modelling on liquidations with Lévy processes," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 412(C).
    9. Satyajit Chatterjee & Burcu Eyigungor, 2019. "The Firm Size and Leverage Relationship and Its Implications for Entry and Concentration in a Low Interest Rate World," Working Papers 19-18, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    10. Toshiaki Ogawa, 2020. "Liquidity Management of Heterogeneous Banks during the Great Recession," IMES Discussion Paper Series 20-E-05, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan.
    11. Cristina Fuentes‐Albero, 2019. "Financial Frictions, Financial Shocks, and Aggregate Volatility," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 51(6), pages 1581-1621, September.
    12. Nishihara, Michi & Shibata, Takashi & Zhang, Chuanqian, 2023. "Corporate investment, financing, and exit model with an earnings-based borrowing constraint," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    13. Satyajit Chatterjee & Burcu Eyigungor, 2020. "The Firm Size and Leverage Relationship and Its Implications for Entry and Business Concentration," Working Papers 20-29, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    14. 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.
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    16. Tracey, Belinda, 2019. "The real effects of zombie lending in Europe," Bank of England working papers 783, Bank of England, revised 27 May 2021.
    17. Poeschl, Johannes, 2023. "Corporate debt maturity and investment over the business cycle," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    18. Yoshiki Ando, 2024. "Dynamics of High-Growth Young Firms and the Role of Venture Capitalists," PIER Working Paper Archive 24-012, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    19. Wenyuan Wang & Xiang Yu & Xiaowen Zhou, 2021. "On optimality of barrier dividend control under endogenous regime switching with application to Chapter 11 bankruptcy," Papers 2108.01800, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2023.
    20. Nguyen, Duy Phat & Borovkov, Konstantin, 2023. "Parisian ruin with random deficit-dependent delays for spectrally negative Lévy processes," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 72-81.
    21. Alfaro, Laura & Asis, Gonzalo & Chari, Anusha & Panizza, Ugo, 2019. "Corporate debt, firm size and financial fragility in emerging markets," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 1-19.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • 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

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