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Full-Text Articles in Law
Credit Markets, Exemptions, And Households With Nothing To Exempt, Richard M. Hynes
Credit Markets, Exemptions, And Households With Nothing To Exempt, Richard M. Hynes
Faculty Publications
American bankruptcy law has offered a "fresh start" in every state for over one hundred years. As a result, econometric studies of consumer bankruptcy often focus on one of the few aspects of the law that has varied significantly across time and across states: exemptions. Professors Gropp, Scholz and White published the first article to test the effect of exemptions on credit markets. Consistent with theory, they found that residents of states with larger exemptions pay higher interest rates than those in states with lower exemptions andface an increased probability that they will be denied credit. These effects were most …
Why (Consumer) Bankruptcy?, Richard M. Hynes
Why (Consumer) Bankruptcy?, Richard M. Hynes
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
The Many Faces Of Chapter 11: A Reply To Professor Baird, A. Mechele Dickerson
The Many Faces Of Chapter 11: A Reply To Professor Baird, A. Mechele Dickerson
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
The Political Economy Of Property Exemption Laws, Richard M. Hynes, Anup Malani, Eric A. Posner
The Political Economy Of Property Exemption Laws, Richard M. Hynes, Anup Malani, Eric A. Posner
Faculty Publications
Exemption laws enable people who default on loans to protect certain assets from liquidation. Every state has its own set of exemption laws, and they vary widely. The 1978 federal bankruptcy law contains a set of national exemptions, which debtors in bankruptcy are permitted to use instead of their state's exemptions unless the state has formally "opted out" of the federal system. We contend that states' decisions to opt out shed light on their exemption levels. We find that states are more likely to opt out if their state exemption is lower than the federal exemption and that states are …
Overoptimism And Overborrowing, Richard M. Hynes
Overoptimism And Overborrowing, Richard M. Hynes
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Approving Employee Retention And Severance Programs Judicial Discretion Run Amuck, A. Mechele Dickerson
Approving Employee Retention And Severance Programs Judicial Discretion Run Amuck, A. Mechele Dickerson
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Behavioral Approach To Analyzing Corporate Failures, A. Mechele Dickerson
Behavioral Approach To Analyzing Corporate Failures, A. Mechele Dickerson
Faculty Publications
Recent corporate failures indicate that existing laws fail to give boards of directors adequate incentives to acknowledge that some financially troubled firms simply cannot be salvaged. Relying primarily on insights from law and behavioral science literature, this Article notes that directors have a natural tendency to underestimate risks and overestimate their ability to save an insolvent or near insolvent firm. This Article urges the imposition of a duty to file a timely bankruptcy petition because such a duty will encourage directors to consider the interests of all the firms' constituents, including workers, creditors, and the local community, when making decisions …
Optimal Bankruptcy In A Non-Optimal World, Richard M. Hynes
Optimal Bankruptcy In A Non-Optimal World, Richard M. Hynes
Faculty Publications
Consumer bankruptcy insures individuals against misfortune. Like other forms of insurance, bankruptcy reduces an individual's incentive to guard against misfortune and provides her with an incentive to overstate her need for relief. The "first-best," or optimal, bankruptcy system, like the first-best tax or public assistance system, solves these moral hazards without any loss of efficiency. In bankruptcy, this first-best approach would deny relief to debtors responsible for their own distress and reduce the deserving debtors' obligations to an amount commensurate with their ability to pay. While the Bankruptcy Code tries (in part) to follow this first-best approach, such a utopian …
Bankruptcy Reform: Does The End Justify The Means?, A. Mechele Dickerson
Bankruptcy Reform: Does The End Justify The Means?, A. Mechele Dickerson
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
America's Uneasy Relationship With The Working Poor, A. Mechele Dickerson
America's Uneasy Relationship With The Working Poor, A. Mechele Dickerson
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
To Love, Honor, And (Oh) Pay: Should Spouses Be Forced To Pay Each Other's Debts?, A. Mechele Dickerson
To Love, Honor, And (Oh) Pay: Should Spouses Be Forced To Pay Each Other's Debts?, A. Mechele Dickerson
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Family Values And The Bankruptcy Code: A Proposal To Eliminate Bankruptcy Benefits Awarded On The Basis Of Marital Status, A. Mechele Dickerson
Family Values And The Bankruptcy Code: A Proposal To Eliminate Bankruptcy Benefits Awarded On The Basis Of Marital Status, A. Mechele Dickerson
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Rethinking Professor Westbrook's Two Thoughts About Insider Preferences, Peter A. Alces
Rethinking Professor Westbrook's Two Thoughts About Insider Preferences, Peter A. Alces
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.