Bankruptcy Spillovers / Shai Bernstein, Emanuele Colonnelli, Xavier Giroud, Benjamin Iverson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bernstein, Shai.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Colonnelli, Emanuele.

Giroud, Xavier.

Iverson, Benjamin.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w23162.

NBER working paper series no. w23162

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2017.

Summary:

How do different bankruptcy approaches affect the local economy? Using U.S. Census microdata at the establishment level, we explore the spillover effects of reorganization and liquidation on geographically proximate firms. We exploit the random assignment of bankruptcy judges as a source of exogenous variation in the probability of liquidation. We find that within a five-year period, employment declines substantially in the immediate neighborhood of the liquidated establishments, relative to reorganized establishments. Most of the decline is due to lower growth of existing establishments and, to a lesser extent, reduced entry into the area. The spillover effects are highly localized and concentrate in the non-tradable and service sectors, particularly when the bankrupt firm operates in the same sector. These results suggest that liquidation leads to a reduction in consumer traffic to the local area and to a decline in knowledge spillovers between firms. The evidence is inconsistent with the notion that liquidation leads to creative destruction, as the removal of bankrupt businesses does not lead to increased entry nor the revitalization of the area.

Notes:

Print version record

February 2017.