Law and economics scholarship has recently begun to investigate the role of social norms in shaping actors' incentives. This paper presents empirical findings on the way in which a group of such norms, known collectively as the 'London Approach', guide the resolution of financial distress by...

Law and economics scholarship has contributed greatly to our understanding of corporate insolvency law. This paper provides an overview of this literature. It begins by defining some relevant terminology, and then reviews theories about the goals of insolvency law. It then considers Jackson's...

A popular perception is that administrative receivers and their appointors hold 'too much' power in relation to troubled companies. Consideration of this issue is timely, because insolvency law is currently under review. We argue although the law's formal structure is imbalanced, this can...

Much attention has been devoted in recent literature to the claim that a country's 'legal origin' may make a difference to its pattern of financial development and more generally to its economic growth path. Proponents of this view assert that the 'family' within which a country's legal system...

English corporate insolvency law has been reshaped by the Enterprise Act 2002. The Act was intended to 'to facilitate company rescue and to produce better returns for creditors as a whole'. Administrative receivership, which placed control of insolvency proceedings in the hands of banks, is for...

This paper makes a case for the future development of European corporate law through regulatory competition rather than EC legislation. It is for the first time becoming legally possible for firms within the EU to select the national company law that they wish to govern their activities. A...

Must policymakers seeking to replicate the success of Silicon Valley's venture capital market first copy other US institutions, such as deep and liquid stock markets? Or can legislative reforms alone make a significant difference? In this paper, we compare the economic and legal determinants of...

This paper makes a case for the future development of European corporate law through regulatory competition rather than EC legislation. It is for the first time becoming legally possible for firms within the EU to select the national company law that they wish to govern their activities. A...

It is a popular perception that administrative receivers and their appointors hold 'too much' power in relation to troubled companies. Many who hold this view have called for the reform of insolvency law in order to redress the balance of power. This issue is timely, because insolvency law is...

Private equity, characterized by firms operating as privately held partnerships organizing the acquisition and quot;taking privatequot; of public companies, has recently dominated the business news due to deals unprecedented in number and size. If this buyout boom continues unabated, the 1989...