Spatial variations in personal insolvency choices: The role of stigma and social capital

Paul Bishop

Urban Studies, 2017, vol. 54, issue 16, 3738-3754

Abstract: This article offers an explanation for the wide spatial variations in choice of insolvency route by personal debtors across local authorities in England and Wales. It is argued that formal bankruptcy has a more negative impact on social capital through stigma effects than the alternative of Individual Voluntary Arrangements. Consequently, spatial variations in choices are related to variations in social capital. The hypotheses derived from this approach are tested through the use of spatial econometric models utilising data from England and Wales. The results provide support for a positive link between variables related to social capital (age, mobility and home ownership) and choice of IVAs. It is argued that avoidance of stigma costs provides an explanation for the apparent paradox of the significant growth of IVAs despite their high cost to debtors compared to bankruptcy. Whilst there is only limited support for impacts directly related to the urban-rural environment, significant spatial interdependencies in choices across neighbouring areas are also uncovered.

Keywords: bankruptcy; Individual Voluntary Arrangements; personal insolvency; social capital; stigma; ç ´äº§ã€; 个人自愿安排ã€; ä¸ªäººæ— åŠ›å ¿å€ºã€; 社会资本ã€; 污å (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098016679765 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:54:y:2017:i:16:p:3738-3754

DOI: 10.1177/0042098016679765

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Urban Studies from Urban Studies Journal Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().