Sequentially examining the full chain of events starting from the default of firms through the fire-sale of goods towards write-offs of bad loans, a new matrix of financial transactions was developed. It was shown that if firms have no equities, the cost of default of those firms is equal zero....

A firm's termination leads to bankruptcy costs. This may create an incentive for outside stakeholders or the firm's debtholders to bail out the firm as bankruptcy looms. Because of this implicit guarantee, firm shareholders have an incentive to increase volatility in order to exploit the...

It is well understood that the equity of an insolvent firm can trade for a positive price so long as there is some positive probability that the firm will become solvent at some future point. Currently, however, this insight exists in the case law in an informal sense, while its use in the...