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Do reorganization costs matter for efficiency ? Evidence from a bankruptcy reform in Colombia

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Listed author(s):
  • Gine, Xavier
  • Love, Inessa

Abstract

The authors study the effect of reorganization costs on the efficiency of bankruptcy laws. They develop a simple model that predicts that in a regime with high costs, the law fails to achieve the efficient outcome of liquidating unviable businesses and reorganizing viable ones. The authors test the model using the Colombian bankruptcy reform of 1999. Using data from 1,924 firms filing for bankruptcy between 1996 and 2003, they find that the pre-reform reorganization proceeding was so inefficient that it failed to separate economically viable firms from inefficient ones. In contrast, by substantially lowering reorganization costs, the reform improved the selection of viable firms into reorganization. In this sense, the new law increased the efficiency of the bankruptcy system in Colombia.

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Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 3970.

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Date of creation: 01 Jul 2006
Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3970
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Keywords: Banks&Banking Reform; Corporate Law; Small Scale Enterprise; Microfinance; Economic Theory&Research;

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Cited by:

  1. Kerr, William R. & Nanda, Ramana, 2009. "Democratizing entry: Banking deregulations, financing constraints, and entrepreneurship," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 124-149, October.
  2. Erkki Laitinen, 2011. "Assessing viability of Finnish reorganization and bankruptcy firms," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 167-198, April.
  3. David McKenzie, 2010. "Impact Assessments in Finance and Private Sector Development: What Have We Learned and What Should We Learn?," World Bank Research Observer, World Bank Group, vol. 25(2), pages 209-233, August.
  4. Cadot, Olivier & Fernandes, Ana & Gourdon, Julien & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2011. "Impact Evaluation of Trade Interventions: Paving the Way," CEPR Discussion Papers 8638, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  5. International Finance Corporation & World Bank, 2009. "Doing Business 2010 : Reforming through Difficult Times - Comparing Regulation in 183 Economies," World Bank Publications, The World Bank, number 2562, October.

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