My dissertation investigates the behavior of consumers and banks in the presence of government as the credit insurer of last resort. Consumers have an option to file for bankruptcy under law when there are unexpected adverse shocks, while banks, especially large banks, are supported by the government during financial crisis because of systemic risk. I explore the heterogeneous behavior among consumers and banks with adverse shocks. In the first chapter of my dissertation, my inquiry focuses on the heterogeneous behavior of households in filing for bankruptcy. In the literature, there are two theories in explaining personal bankruptcy: adverse event theory and strategic timing theory. Fay, Hurst and White(FHW) 2002(AER) include both financial benefit and adverse event variables in explaining the bankruptcy decision, and they find only financial benefit from filing is significant in explaining whether to file or not. Our argument is that adverse events may not work directly on bankruptcy decisions, however, they operate by running a higher amount of debt. Thus FHW's setting may not be appropriate. Instead, adverse event consumers' debt occurs after adverse events, while strategic timing consumers' debt decision and bankruptcy decision are jointly determined, which means their debt or financial benefit is endogenous; thus we propose that the endogeneity test of financial benefit is a way to distinguish the two types of consumers. Assuming only one type exists in the sample, we find support for adverse event theory. Extending the analysis to allow for both adverse events and strategic timing consumers shows existence of both types of filers, and strategic timing filers are more sensitive to financial benefit. Additionally, lower access to debt markets and lower income significantly increase the chance of strategic behavior. The second part of my dissertation is to study the effectiveness of the Troubled Asset Relief Program(TARP) on banks' loan to asset ratio. One of the fundamental objectives of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is to stimulate bank loan growth. I use panel data to study the dynamic effect of TARP investments on banks' loan to asset ratio (LTA). I find that TARP stimulate recipients' LTA growth as a whole, and the effect is significant only for medium banks(asset between 1 billion and 10 billion), with an annual decrease of 14 percentage points in LTA with the LTA in treatment quarter as benchmark. In terms of a dollar amount, 7.71 dollar more loans are generated for every TARP dollar invested in medium banks, compared with the average level of the quarters before TARP. There is no significant effect on small banks or big banks. Using graphs and different regression models, I argue that the dynamic setting, rather than the cross-sectional comparison, is more appropriate.

Barbados enacted the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act in the year 2001. This Act is based entirely on the Canadian Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Barbados reformed its bankruptcy and insolvency laws in order to offer greater protection to debtors while simultaneously protecting creditors from fraud. Additionally, the new reforms were designed to remove the stigma that attaches to insolvent and bankrupt individuals and businesses and to make Barbados a more attractive destination for the creation of and investment in new businesses. Despite the existence of a legislative framework designed to assist debtors and creditors only five matters have been initiated under the Barbados Act. In this thesis I examine why there has been reluctance to rely on the Act. Ultimately, I conclude that the bankruptcy and insolvency regime that exists in Barbados is ineffective and lacks many of the features that are necessary for the efficient administration of bankruptcies and insolvencies.

This thesis is a history of the reform of English bankruptcy law 1831-1914 and a statistical analysis of the insolvency the reforms sought to limit. The first two chapters describe the historiography of government growth in nineteenth-century Britain and outline the history of English bankruptcy legislation until 1831. Using statistics from bankruptcy reports published by the Board of Trade after 1883 and returns issued by other government entities prior to that date, chapters three and four define the extent and the characteristics of insolvency. These chapters analyze the aggregate level of bankruptcy in particular occupations and geographic areas; they also examine the effect of trade cycles on bankruptcy levels, both in terms of numbers of bankruptcies and losses occasioned. The remaining chapters trace the history of bankruptcy legislation and examine why Parliament embraced the concept of government supervision of bankrupt estates in 1831, then dismantled the system in the 1860s, only to reimpose it once again a short time later. The roles of three groups in this story -- the business community, the legal profession, and the government -- are examined in detail using the records of the local chambers of commerce, law societies, and other organizations. The thesis concludes that, while the aggregate level of losses declined after the Bankruptcy Act of 1883, the loss rates for some occupations did not reflect this decline. Also, trade cycles did not uniformly affect the rate of bankruptcy for all occupations and geographic areas. Random factors rather than trade cycles had the greatest effect on annual bankruptcy rates. The thesis also argues that the extension of government brought about by bankruptcy reforms was largely a pragmatic attempt to manage bankrupt estates efficiently and had little philosophical basis. Further, the close resemblances between bankruptcy reforms and other Victorian extensions of government add to the evidence that, while there may not be a strict pattern to government growth, such growth may be considered as a distinct and identifiable process.

No description available.

This thesis is an attempt to trace the aspects of civil protection of company property from the conduct of directors in insolvent liquidation in Scotland. It emphasises the origin of the problem and the essential need to protect company property, particularly in public limited companies. This protection is required for two reasons. First, directors may abuse their powers and take advantage of the privilege of limited liability they enjoy. Second, the separation between ownership and control. There are several aspects of civil protection which are provided by the Insolvency Act 1986, the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 and the common law. Regarding civil protection after the commencement of an insolvent liquidation, the Insolvency Act protects company property: (1) by terminating all of the directors' powers in a creditors voluntary liquidation (s.103); (2) by avoiding dispositions of company property after the commencement of liquidation in a compulsory liquidation (s.127); (3) by making public and private examinations to investigate directors' conduct in their dealings with the company (ss. 133, 236 and 112); (4) by prohibiting directors from re-using the company's name (ss. 216-217) and (5) by disqualifying directors who are ordered by the court to contribute to the company's assets as a result of fraudulent and wrongful trading (s. 10 of the C.D.D.A. 1986) and those directors whose conduct makes them unfit to be concerned in the management of the company (s. 6 of the C.D.D.A. 1986). But to maximise this protection a provision should be added to provide that directors' powers should cease in a compulsory liquidation not only after the liquidation order but also after the appointment of a provisional liquidator except with the leave of the court. Section 127 should also extend to cover any disposition made after the making of a resolution to wind up the company voluntarily and before the appointment of the liquidator and after his appointment.

No description available.

This is a study about bankruptcy, a procedure incorporated into Lower Canada's legal institutions in 1839. The object is to analyze from both a social and a legal perspectives the relations between insolvent traders and their creditors during the first half of the nineteenth century. This research is based on a source almost unexploited by historians up to now, the bankruptcy records located in the judicial archives in the district of Montreal. / The economic difficulties of the 1820's and the inefficiency of the existing legal means for debt recovery were among the main arguments invoqued by the traders of Montreal in their demands for the implementation of a bankruptcy procedure. / The result of our research indicate that these demands were not mainly expressed by the wealthiest creditors. The bankruptcy procedure responded more to the needs of ordinary creditors such as artisans, tavernkeepers and bakers whose credit was central to the production and trade of goods. The bankruptcy procedure allowed ordinary creditors to audit and control debtor's transactions, and to constrain other creditors to accept re-payment compromise.

This thesis examines the new system of bankruptcy law in the People’s Republic of China. A major issue of the thesis is the analysis of the possible links and side effects of the upcoming bankruptcy law on intellectual property rights in China. The fact that the People’s Republic of China is one of the fastest growing economies with the intention of becoming accepted as a market economy has various influences upon the political decisions and legal developments in China and the rest of the world. All changes of the legal environment in China aim at increasing the faith of foreign investors and the growth of foreign investment in China. China continuously allows foreigners to invest in more and more business areas and there is a wide variety of different types of investment in China. On the one hand, companies have the possibility to invest their capital. On the other hand, companies have the option to invest their technical knowledge. Technical knowledge is of particular interest to Chinese partners. Because of this strong interest, western companies are in great danger of losing their intellectual property. The Chinese legal system meanwhile offers western companies a range of different corporate forms. The corporate forms “Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise” and “joint venture” in particular are very attractive to foreign investors. Due to the large variety of corporate forms, this thesis focuses on the involvement of foreign investors in a joint venture. Usually, western companies choose to invest intellectual property in the form of a “joint venture”. This generates a special need for the foreign company to receive a guarantee for their property. Foreign companies fear that a third party might use their intellectual property and, in order to reduce this risk, they have to be very careful as to how they invest their intellectual property in China. The new bankruptcy law can create a new form of this well-known threat to foreign companies who invest in the People’s Republic of China. The aim of this thesis is to identify some of these new risks and to attempt to find solutions to help foreign investors reduce potential risks for their investments. Globalisation and international investors are currently focusing on the Chinese market. In order to understand the contemporary situation in China, it is important to understand Chinese history and culture. Taking this into account, this thesis summarises the historical and cultural aspects in the initial chapters.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Heidelberg, 1910. / Includes bibliographical references ([v]-vi).

Thesis (doctoral)--Hoogeschool te Utrecht, 1867. / Includes bibliographical references.