We find that senior loan lender control is positively associated with a firm's corporate bond yield spread at issuance. A one standard deviation change in the number of covenants on the strictest loan on a firm's balance sheet is associated with a 15 basis points higher yield spread at bond...

We document the valuation effects of bankruptcy announcements through technological relatedness. The average value of firms that intensively cite the technologies of a bankrupt firm decreases by 1% around the time of the bankruptcy announcement. The effects are not attributable to other economic...

This paper examines the use of key employee retention and incentive plans (KERPs) in bankrupt firms. We find that firms in Chapter 11 are more likely to offer KERPs when firms are located in thicker employment markets, when creditors have strong control, and when bankrupt firms have complex...

Financially distressed and insolvent firms file for bankruptcy to either reorganize or liquidate under court supervision. Fundamentally, bankruptcy law is designed to resolve creditor coordination and holdout problems. It not only sets up rules and guidelines to allow firms to restructure their...

We study how innovative firms manage their innovation portfolios after filing for Chapter 11 reorganization using three decades of data. We find that they sell off core (i.e., technologically critical and valuable), rather than peripheral, patents in bankruptcy. The selling pattern is driven...

We examine chief executive officer (CEO) career and compensation changes for large firms filing for Chapter 11. One-third of the incumbent CEOs maintain executive employment, and these CEOs experience a median compensation change of zero. However, incumbent CEOs leaving the executive labor...

Drawing on a large sample of defaulted corporate debt from 1996 to 2007, we find that the debt recovery estimated using the Leland-Toft endogenous bankruptcy model has strong explanatory power on the debt recovery observed in the market. Our results hold after firm characteristics, industry...

This paper studies the presence of hedge funds in the Chapter 11 process and their effects on bankruptcy outcomes. Hedge funds strategically choose positions in the capital structure where their actions could have a bigger impact on value. Their presence, especially as unsecured creditors, helps...

Drawing on a large sample of defaulted corporate debt from 1996 to 2007, we find that the debt recovery estimated using the Leland-Toft endogenous bankruptcy model has strong explanatory power on the debt recovery observed in the market. Our results hold after firm characteristics, industry...

Exploiting the random assignment of corporate bankruptcy filings, we estimate financial costs of judicial inexperience. Despite new judges' significant prior legal experience, formal education, and rigorous hiring process, their public Chapter 11 cases spend 19% more time in bankruptcy and...