We study how the macroeconomic dynamics following credit cycles vary with business bankruptcy institutions. Using data … on bankruptcy efficiency and business credit around the world, we document that business credit booms are followed by … severe declines in output, investment, and consumption in environments with poorly functioning business bankruptcy. On the …

In an RCT with US small businesses, we document that a large share of firms are not well-informed about bankruptcy …. Many assume that bankruptcy necessarily entails the death of a business and do not know about Chapter 11 bankruptcy, where … reform that lowered the costs of bankruptcy procedures to enhance their protection. In addition, they exhibit substantial …

-and-repurchase (repo) contracts. Exemption from an automatic stay in bankruptcy enables financial intermediaries to raise greater liquidity … underlying the contracts. When exempt from bankruptcy, creditors of highly leveraged financial intermediaries respond to such … bankruptcy, can be not only ex-post optimal, but also ex-ante optimal, especially for illiquid collateral with high exposure to …