We develop a model of a firm in financial distress. Distress can be mitigated by filing for bankruptcy, which is costly, or preempted by restructuring, which is impeded by a collective action problem. We find that bankruptcy and restructuring are complements, not substitutes: Reducing bankruptcy...

This essay surveys important contributions to the economics of bankruptcy. It is an introductory chapter for a forthcoming volume (from Edward Elgar Press) that compiles the work of legal scholars as well as economists working in the field of corporate finance. The essay begins with the...

Lehman's bankruptcy has triggered calls for new approaches to rescuing systemically important institutions. This essay assesses and confirms the need for a new approach. It identifies the inadequacies of the Bankruptcy Code and advocates an approach modeled on the current regime governing...

In an article forthcoming in the Journal of Corporate Law, Systematic Stewardship with Tradeoffs, Profs. Kahan and Rock take issue with the portfolio approach that I offered in Systematic Stewardship (47 J. Corp. L. 627 (2022)) on the grounds that corporate law requires a “single firm focus”...

In an article forthcoming in the Journal of Corporate Law, Systematic Stewardship with Tradeoffs, Profs. Kahan and Rock take issue with the portfolio approach that I offered in Systematic Stewardship (47 J. Corp. L. 627 (2022)) on the grounds that corporate law requires a “single firm focus”...

Finance has become more a problem than a solution to what the world most wants: socially inclusive economic growth. It has become a source of crises that threaten the development of the real economy. It has escaped accountability to democratic institutions and often helped, instead, to influence...

Policymakers have minimized the role of bankruptcy law in mitigating the financial fallout from COVID-19. Scholars too are unsure about the merits of bankruptcy, especially Chapter 11, in resolving business distress. We argue that Chapter 11 complements current stimulus policies for large...

In the United States, few failing businesses invoke the Bankruptcy Code to reorganize or liquidate. Most use non-bankruptcy procedures to accomplish the same purposes. These procedures include voluntary agreements between the debtor and its creditors (workouts) and formal devices such as...

Over half of all small businesses reorganizing under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code are ultimately liquidated. Little is known about this shutdown decision and about the factors that increase or reduce the amount of time a firm spends in bankruptcy. It is widely suspected, however, that...