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Sizing up Corporate Restructuring in the COVID Crisis

Author

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  • Robin Greenwood
  • Benjamin Iverson
  • David Thesmar

Abstract

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial and legal system will need to deal with a surge of financial distress in the business sector. Some firms will be able to survive, while others will face bankruptcy and thus need to be liquidated or reorganized. Many surviving firms will need to be downsized or acquired. In normal times, this triage is supported by the court system, banks, and financial markets. The goal of this paper is to size up the coming surge of financial distress, list the challenges it presents in the current environment, and analyze potential policy solutions. Overall, our analysis suggests that the two key issues will be court congestion and excess liquidation and failure of small firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Robin Greenwood & Benjamin Iverson & David Thesmar, 2020. "Sizing up Corporate Restructuring in the COVID Crisis," NBER Working Papers 28104, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28104
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Elena Carletti & Tommaso Oliviero & Marco Pagano & Loriana Pelizzon & Marti G Subrahmanyam, 2020. "The COVID-19 Shock and Equity Shortfall: Firm-Level Evidence from Italy," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(3), pages 534-568.
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    5. Elena Carletti & Tommaso Oliviero & Marco Pagano & Loriana Pelizzon & Marti G Subrahmanyam, 0. "The COVID-19 Shock and Equity Shortfall: Firm-Level Evidence from Italy," Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 534-568.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Gil Nogueira, 2022. "Corporate insolvency and restructuring during COVID-19," Economic Bulletin and Financial Stability Report Articles and Banco de Portugal Economic Studies, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    3. Crane, Leland D. & Decker, Ryan A. & Flaaen, Aaron & Hamins-Puertolas, Adrian & Kurz, Christopher, 2022. "Business exit during the COVID-19 pandemic: Non-traditional measures in historical context," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    4. Rajan, Raghuram G., 2021. "Dealing with corporate distress, repair, and reallocation," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 739-748.
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    9. Sabrina T. Howell & Theresa Kuchler & David Snitkof & Johannes Stroebel & Jun Wong, 2021. "Racial Disparities in Access to Small Business Credit: Evidence from the Paycheck Protection Program," CESifo Working Paper Series 9345, CESifo.
    10. Benoit Mojon & Daniel Rees & Christian Schmieder, 2021. "How much stress could Covid put on corporate credit? Evidence using sectoral data," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, March.
    11. Ke, Yun, 2022. "The impact of COVID-19 on firms’ cost of equity capital: Early evidence from U.S. public firms," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PA).
    12. Zhang, Dengjun & Sogn-Grundvåg, Geir, 2022. "Credit constraints and the severity of COVID-19 impact: Empirical evidence from enterprise surveys," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 337-349.
    13. Barbieri, Claudio & Couaillier, Cyril & Perales, Cristian & Rodriguez d’Acri, Costanza, 2022. "Informing macroprudential policy choices using credit supply and demand decompositions," Working Paper Series 2702, European Central Bank.
    14. Falk Bräuning & Victoria Ivashina & Ali Ozdagli, 2022. "High-Yield Debt Covenants and Their Real Effects," NBER Working Papers 29888, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. McCann, Fergal & McGeever, Niall, 2022. "Enterprise policy issues for distressed businesses following the unwinding of pandemic supports," Financial Stability Notes 9/FS/22, Central Bank of Ireland.
    16. Ángel de la Fuente & Benito Arruñada & Nuria Bermejo & Olga Cerqueira & Marta Cervera Martínez & José M. Fernández Seijo & Marta Flores Segura & Francisco Garcimartin & Stefan F. van Hemmen & Jordi Ma, 2021. "¿Cómo ayudar a las empresas en la crisis del Covid?," Policy Papers 2021-05, FEDEA.
    17. Khan, Safi Ullah, 2022. "Financing constraints and firm-level responses to the COVID-19 pandemic: International evidence," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    18. Florian Eckert & Heiner Mikosch, 2022. "Firm bankruptcies and start-up activity in Switzerland during the COVID-19 crisis," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 158(1), pages 1-25, December.
    19. Lambert, Derek & McGeever, Niall & O'Brien, Eoghan, 2022. "Wage subsidy utilisation by Irish companies," Financial Stability Notes 8/FS/22, Central Bank of Ireland.
    20. Benito Arruñada & Ángel de la Fuente & Marta Cervera Martínez & Marta Flores Segura & Jordi Maristany Rivero, 2021. "Solvencia empresarial y derecho concursal: algunas reflexiones a la luz del Covid," Policy Papers 2021-04, FEDEA.
    21. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas & Ṣebnem Kalemli-Özcan & Veronika Penciakova & Nick Sander, 2020. "SME Failures Under Large Liquidity Shocks: An Application to the COVID-19 Crisis," NBER Working Papers 27877, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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