Through a comparison of serially and once bankrupt firms, we examine those factors that lead to a successful reorganization. We find that serially bankrupt firms generally fail to restructure their top management around the time of their initial reorganization while over 70% of our sample of...

Using an empirical analysis from Chapter 7 cases in five judicial districts, this article estimates the direct costs in typical small business Chapter 7s. The article finds that direct costs are lower than commonly portrayed, constituting a mean of 6.1% of total assets of 13.5% of total...

For a consumer considering bankruptcy, Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 are options with vastly different consequences. In Chapter 7, a consumer earns a quick discharge after turning over all nonexempt or unencumbered assets to the bankruptcy trustee. In over 90% of Chapter 7 cases, the debtor has no...

The social safety net for older Americans has been shrinking for the past couple decades. The risks associated with aging, reduced income, and increased healthcare costs, have been off-loaded onto older individuals. At the same time, older Americans are increasingly likely to file consumer...

In the symposium “Bankruptcy and Race: Is There a Relation?,” participants responded to our earlier article on race and bankruptcy chapter choice that appeared in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. Our article found that African Americans were overrepresented in chapter 13 and found...

In “Race, Attorney Influence, and Bankruptcy Chapter Choice,” which appeared in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, we reported on two studies. The first study used real-world bankruptcy data and documented a large racial disparity in bankruptcy chapter choice. Even after controlling for...

Apologies result in better outcomes for wrongdoers in a variety of legal contexts. Previous research, however, has primarily addressed settings in which a clear victim receives the apology. This research examines the influence of apologies on a different kind of legal decision — the decision...