Bankruptcy Spillovers

Shai Bernstein, Emanuele Colonnelli, Xavier Giroud and Benjamin Iverson

Working Papers from U.S. Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies

Abstract: 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.

Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2017-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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https://www2.census.gov/ces/wp/2017/CES-WP-17-16.pdf First version, 2017 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Bankruptcy spillovers (2019)
Working Paper: Bankruptcy Spillovers (2017)
Working Paper: Bankruptcy Spillovers (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cen:wpaper:17-16

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