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The balance of power between creditors and the firm: Evidence from German insolvency law

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  • Closset, Frédéric
  • Urban, Daniel
Abstract
In 2011, German legislators passed the latest reform to German Insolvency Law (ESUG). ESUG mandates that creditors of larger firms can exert more influence on the appointment of the insolvency administrator, resulting in a shift of power from shareholders to creditors. Based on difference-in-differences estimation, we find that larger firms reduced financial leverage by about 4–7 percentage points relative to control firms. Furthermore, after the enactment of ESUG, larger firms spend less money on investment and pay higher interest rates. Overall, the evidence is consistent with the view that German creditor protection has become too strong.

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  • Closset, Frédéric & Urban, Daniel, 2019. "The balance of power between creditors and the firm: Evidence from German insolvency law," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 454-477.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:58:y:2019:i:c:p:454-477
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2019.06.004
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    2. Agarwal, Shivangi & Singhvi, Bhavya, 2023. "Creditor-controlled insolvency and firm financing– Evidence from India," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    3. Closset, Frédéric & Großmann, Christoph & Kaserer, Christoph & Urban, Daniel, 2023. "Corporate restructuring and creditor power: Evidence from European insolvency law reforms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    4. Ernest Ezeani & Rami Salem & Frank Kwabi & Khalid Boutaine & Bilal & Bushra Komal, 2022. "Board monitoring and capital structure dynamics: evidence from bank-based economies," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 473-498, February.
    5. Florian Maier & B. Burcin Yurtoglu, 2022. "Board Characteristics and the Insolvency Risk of Non-Financial Firms," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-19, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Leverage; Bankruptcy; Insolvency; Agency; Theory;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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