This paper introduces a large-scale administrative panel data set on corporate bankruptcy in Germany that allows for an … to bankruptcy risk but confirm negative size dependence for mature plants, only. Our results corroborate hypotheses … stressing increasing capabilities and positional advantage, both predicting negative age dependence with respect to bankruptcy …

: entrepreneurial self-selection via voluntary liquidation and external selection based on insolvency regulation. Distinguishing between … and West Germany, I find distinct education and size effects and a higher share of bankruptcy-related liquidations in East …