In this paper, we analyse the incidence of zombie firms, how they have been affected by the pandemic, and their take-up of economic support measures. While balance sheet data for 2020 are not available yet, we find that in 2019, they represented 3 to 5 per cent of all corporations. In 2020, they...

Every year 400,000 entrepreneurs fail and 60,000 file for personal bankruptcy. The option to declare bankruptcy provides entrepreneurs with insurance against the financial consequences of business failures. However, it comes at the cost of worsened credit market conditions. In this paper, we...

We exploit the staggered nature of the Italian bankruptcy law reform of 2005-2006 to disentangle the distinct causal impact of both reorganization and liquidation procedures in bankruptcy on firms' cost of loan financing. Using a unique loan-level data-set covering the universe of firm funding...

We exploit the staggered nature of the Italian bankruptcy law reform of 2005-2006 to disentangle the distinct causal impact of both reorganization and liquidation procedures in bankruptcy on firms' cost of loan financing. Using a unique loan-level dataset covering the universe of firm funding...