empirical relevance of stigma and information sharing on household bankruptcy and its trend. Many observers of bankruptcy … the more relevant factor in explaining the observed bankruptcy trends. Furthermore, we show that this aggregate trend … that the overall increase in the bankruptcy rates cannot be explained by a decrease in social stigma. We argue that the …

This paper aims to contribute to the growing literature on the causes of consumer bankruptcy. It presents the consumer … bankruptcy decision as an irreversible choice that has an embedded real option value. This allows the use of well known framework … economic factors, such as unemployment, are strong predictors of bankruptcy rates and are consistent with the implications of …

least some time after their bankruptcy. However, there is very little non-survey based empirical evidence on the … availability of credit post-bankruptcy. This paper makes two contributions using data from one of the largest credit bureaus in the … US. First, we show that individuals who file for bankruptcy can indeed get credit very quickly after they file. Indeed …

Thousands of U.S. households filed for bankruptcy just before the bankruptcy law changed in 2005. That rush-to-file was … more pronounced, we find, in states with more generous bankruptcy exemptions and lower credit scores. We take that finding … as evidence that the new law effectively reduces exemptions, which in turn should reduce the ?demand? for bankruptcy and …

We argue that the 2005 bankruptcy abuse reform (BAR) contributed to the surge in subprime foreclosures that followed … its passage. Before BAR, distressed mortgagors could free up income by filing bankruptcy and having their unsecured debts … home equity bankruptcy exemptions; filers in low-exemption states were not very protected before BAR, so they would be less …

market competition, lending to households, and personal bankruptcy rates in the United States. We exploit the exogenous … decreased, and (3) bankruptcy rates rose. Further, we find that lending and bankruptcy rates increased more in states with …

rising household debt, personal bankruptcy filings, and arrears. In this paper, we use data from the European Community …