IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/drm/wpaper/2017-26.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Bankruptcy and the difficulty of firing

Author

Listed:
  • Nicolae Stef

Abstract

Firms may use layoffs as an ex ante mechanism to avoid filing for bankruptcy. However, the national labor law may impose some restrictions that delay or hamper the firing decision of the employer. This study proposes a different legal pathway for policymakers whose goal is to reduce the use of bankruptcy without acting on the design of the bankruptcy law. Using a sample of 33 countries from 2007 to 2015, we show that the total amount of firing restrictions leads to more bankruptcies. The employer's legal obligation to notify a third party prior the dismissal of one employee tends to increase the number of bankruptcies. It is very likely that the employer's rescue strategy endures an intense ex post monitoring of the employment contracts and/or a strong legal opposition to the layoff decision from such third party. In addition, labor codes that apply priority rules in case of reemployment can increase the use of bankruptcy.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicolae Stef, 2017. "Bankruptcy and the difficulty of firing," EconomiX Working Papers 2017-26, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    • Handle: RePEc:drm:wpaper:2017-26
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://economix.fr/pdf/dt/2017/WP_EcoX_2017-26.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oscar Couwenberg & Abe Jong, 2008. "Costs and recovery rates in the Dutch liquidation-based bankruptcy system," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 105-127, October.
    2. Fabling, Richard & Grimes, Arthur, 2005. "Insolvency and economic development: Regional variation and adjustment," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(4), pages 339-359.
    3. Régis Blazy & Bertrand Chopard & Nirjhar Nigam, 2013. "Building Legal Indexes to Explain Recovery Rates: An Analysis of the French and English Bankruptcy Codes," Post-Print hal-01385918, HAL.
    4. Richard B. Freeman & Morris M. Kleiner, 1999. "Do Unions Make Enterprises Insolvent?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 52(4), pages 510-527, July.
    5. Timothy Besley & Robin Burgess, 2004. "Can Labor Regulation Hinder Economic Performance? Evidence from India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 91-134.
    6. Juan C. Botero & Simeon Djankov & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "The Regulation of Labor," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(4), pages 1339-1382.
    7. Paul Oyer & Scott Schaefer, 2000. "Layoffs and Litigation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(2), pages 345-358, Summer.
    8. Blazy, Régis & Chopard, Bertrand & Nigam, Nirjhar, 2013. "Building legal indexes to explain recovery rates: An analysis of the French and English bankruptcy codes," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 1936-1959.
    9. Stijn Claessens & Leora F. Klapper, 2005. "Bankruptcy around the World: Explanations of Its Relative Use," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 7(1), pages 253-283.
    10. Regis Blazy & Bertrand Chopard & Nirjhar Nigam, 2013. "Building Legal Indexes to Explain Recovery Rates: An Analysis of the French and English Bankruptcy Codes," Post-Print hal-01369460, HAL.
    11. Klapper, Leora & Laeven, Luc & Rajan, Raghuram, 2006. "Entry regulation as a barrier to entrepreneurship," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(3), pages 591-629, December.
    12. Stefan Buehler & Christian Kaiser & Franz Jaeger, 2012. "The geographic determinants of bankruptcy: evidence from Switzerland," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 231-251, July.
    13. Nicolae Stef, 2017. "Voting Rules in Bankruptcy Law," Post-Print hal-01549783, HAL.
    14. Djankov, Simeon & Ramalho, Rita, 2009. "Employment laws in developing countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 3-13, March.
    15. Boyes, William J & Faith, Roger L, 1986. "Some Effects of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(1), pages 139-149, April.
    16. Di Tella, Rafael & MacCulloch, Robert, 2005. "The consequences of labor market flexibility: Panel evidence based on survey data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(5), pages 1225-1259, July.
    17. Richard Disney & Jonathan Haskel & Ylva Heden, 2003. "Entry, Exit and Establishment Survival in UK Manufacturing," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 91-112, March.
    18. Régis BLAZY & Nicolae STEF, 2015. "How do bankruptcy systems perform in Eastern Europe?," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2015-07, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    19. Francine Lafontaine & Jagadeesh Sivadasan, 2009. "Do Labor Market Rigidities Have Microeconomic Effects? Evidence from within the Firm," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(2), pages 88-127, April.
    20. Hogan, Chad, 2001. "Enforcement of Implicit Employment Contracts through Unionization," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 171-195, January.
    21. Nico Dewaelheyns & Cynthia Hulle, 2008. "Legal reform and aggregate small and micro business bankruptcy rates: evidence from the 1997 Belgian bankruptcy code," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 409-424, December.
    22. Claessens, Stijn & Djankov, Simeon & Klapper, Leora, 2003. "Resolution of corporate distress in East Asia," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(1-2), pages 199-216, February.
    23. Gerard A. Pfann, 2006. "Downsizing and Heterogeneous Firing Costs," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(1), pages 158-170, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nicolae Stef, 2017. "Bankruptcy and the difficulty of firing," Working Papers hal-04141644, HAL.
    2. Stef, Nicolae, 2018. "Bankruptcy and the difficulty of firing," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 85-94.
    3. Jaka Cepec & Peter Grajzl & Katarina Zajc, 2016. "Debt Recovery in Firm Liquidations: Do Liquidation Trustees Matter?," CESifo Working Paper Series 6034, CESifo.
    4. Stef, Nicolae, 2022. "How does legal design affect the initiation of a firm's bankruptcy?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    5. Nicolae Stef, 2023. "Bankruptcy voting process and corporate reorganization," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(2), pages 508-524, April.
    6. Stef, Nicolae & Dimelis, Sophia, 2020. "Bankruptcy regime and the banking system," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 480-495.
    7. Jaka Cepec & Peter Grajzl & Katarina Zajc, 2016. "Debt Recovery in Firm Liquidations: Do Liquidation Trustees Matter?," Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia, Finanza e Statistica 24/2016, Università di Perugia, Dipartimento Economia.
    8. Régis Blazy & Nicolae Stef, 2020. "Bankruptcy procedures in the post-transition economies," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 7-64, August.
    9. Régis Blazy & Nirjhar Nigam, 2019. "Corporate insolvency procedures in England: the uneasy case for liquidations," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 89-123, February.
    10. MacLeod, W. Bentley, 2011. "Great Expectations: Law, Employment Contracts, and Labor Market Performance," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 18, pages 1591-1696, Elsevier.
    11. Meyer, Moritz & Vandenberg, Paul, 2013. "Globalization, Labor Market Regulation, and Firm Behavior," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 361, Asian Development Bank.
    12. Stef, Nicolae & Bissieux, Jean-Joachim, 2022. "Resolution of corporate insolvency during COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence from France," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    13. Régis BLAZY & Nicolae STEF, 2015. "How do bankruptcy systems perform in Eastern Europe?," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2015-07, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    14. Jose M Garrido & Mr. Wolfgang Bergthaler & Ms. Chanda M DeLong & Juliet Johnson & Amira Rasekh & Anjum Rosha & Natalia Stetsenko, 2019. "The Use of Data in Assessing and Designing Insolvency Systems," IMF Working Papers 2019/027, International Monetary Fund.
    15. Stef, Nicolae & Ben Jabeur, Sami & Scherer, Robert F., 2022. "Time to resolve insolvency and political elections," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    16. Régis Blazy & Joël Petey & Laurent Weill, 2018. "Serving the creditors after insolvency filings: from value creation to value distribution," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 331-375, April.
    17. Haidar, Jamal Ibrahim, 2012. "The impact of business regulatory reforms on economic growth," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 285-307.
    18. Kaplan, David S., 2009. "Job creation and labor reform in Latin America," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 91-105, March.
    19. Carmen Pagés-Serra & Reyes Aterido & Mary Hallward-Driemeier, 2007. "Clima de negocios y creación de empleo: El efecto del acceso al crédito, la corrupción y el marco regulatorio en el crecimiento de las empresas," Research Department Publications 4560, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    20. Beck, T.H.L. & Hoseini, M., 2014. "Informality and Access to Finance : Evidence from India," Other publications TiSEM 00e890f4-bd1a-46ba-9064-7, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bankruptcy; Layoff; Labor.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:drm:wpaper:2017-26. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Valerie Mignon (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/modemfr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.