Bankruptcy law: a mechanism of governance for financially distressed firms

This paper explores the various governance models for financially distressed firms. We offer a new typology of major bankruptcy models and provide a connection between this bankruptcy law puzzle and the variables depicting the governance of healthy firms in order to shed light on two topics: (1) the factors that the lawyer should consider before changing its national bankruptcy law, and (2) the risks associated with each bankruptcy model according to the economic literature on bankruptcy law. Our final aim is to test whether the various bankruptcy models detailed in the paper perform in separate economic and legal environments.

The influence of bankruptcy law on equity value of financially distressed firms: A European comparative analysis

The reaction of stock prices to bankruptcy filing has been frequently analysed in the financial literature. In this paper we adopt a different approach to that of traditional study, and endeavour to determine whether the reaction of markets is conditioned by the orientation of bankruptcy law. Our results lead us to conclude that it is actually the type of bankruptcy law that conditions the valuation of firm's stocks. We have also found that the drop in share value is greater in creditor-oriented systems, while the negative returns are lower in debtor-oriented systems.     

When it pays to be honest: How a variable period of good conduct can improve incentives in personal bankruptcy proceedings

Consumer bankruptcy regulation in the United States as well as in many other countries allow consumers to petition for a partial debt discharge. Usually, a debt release is possible when the debtor behaves in the creditors’ best interest and after filing for bankruptcy signs over her entire disposable income for a fixed period. Depending on the country the period lasts between three and six years. We show that a fixed period distorts the consumer’s ex-post incentives to work hard. Instead, we suggest to adequately reduce the outstanding claim and to make debt release contingent on payment. When the consumer manages to pay back the reduced amount, the rest of the initial debt should be discharged immediately. In effect, the consumer becomes the residual claimant of her endeavors. The period of good conduct is effectively variable. JEL classification D18. D91. K29     

Ex post efficiency of bankruptcy procedures: A general normative framework

In this paper, we consider the case of a distressed firm whose financial commitments have to be renegotiated with stakeholders (banks, trade creditors …). At default time, rival projects (continuation, piecemeal liquidation, liquidation as a going concern …) may be undertaken. In such a case, the most frequent way of making collective choices is to vote. Our attention focuses on the risk of not choosing the best project because of free riders: personal interests may block the issue in favor of the project associated to the highest value of the firm.At first, we consider a law-enforced procedure under which financial deviations from the absolute priority order (APO) are possible: each individual gain is slightly modified in order to obtain a non-strict majority in favor of the best project. This legal intervention can be implemented and considered as “optimal” if it respects four criteria: economic efficiency, financial neutrality, legal tolerability and democratic desirability. Under these conditions, any law-driven renegotiation process must defines financial transfers that underweight (respectively overweight) the sub-optimal gains (respectively losses) of the most influent voter. Moreover, the proportion of financial transfers granted to each stakeholder exactly reflects their relative influence power: in other words, financial deviations from APO can be interpreted as the price that any stakeholder has to pay (respectively receive) because of his marginal negative (respectively positive) impact on the collective decision. Then, these results serve as a guide to comment ex post efficiency of various bankruptcy procedures (US, French, English and German). Our approach may be interpreted as a first step in the design of an economically efficient procedure that should deal with both ex ante and ex post efficiencies.     

对新破产法实施状态下的职工权益保护

新破产法否定了既往我国破产实践中广泛存在的，将破产国有企业劳动债权优先于担保债权清偿的政策性做法，而规定劳动债权作为一般债权受偿。此一规定的改变，理顺了一般劳动债权与担保债权的关系，符合一般法治理念，但也给政府的破产企业职工劳动者权益保护政策带来挑战。政府应未雨绸缪，采取多种措施保护企业劳动者权益。     

A Tale of Two Debtors: Responding to the Shock of Over‐Indebtedness in France and England – a Story from the Trente Piteuses

England and France have developed distinct treatment systems to address the shock of a substantial increase in over‐indebted individuals since the mid‐1980s. In France, Over‐Indebtedness Commissions, with the Bank of France playing a central role in their management, now dominate the system. A more fragmented system of private and public providers of remedies developed in England, with innovation driven by private actors modifying existing commercial procedures and increased access to bankruptcy relief a side‐effect of government promotion of entrepreneurialism. This article explains the differences between these countries in terms of the influence of interest groups, including state actors, and ideologies. Historical contingency also plays a role. The distinct responses were not hard‐wired to legal origins and the article argues that analysis of the interaction of interest groups, state actors and ideology in shaping institutions, which in turn structure future change, provides a productive approach for future comparative research in this area.     

‘Customary internet-ional law’: Creating a body of customary law for cyberspace. Part 1: Developing rules for transitioning custom into law

The shift in socio-economic transactions from realspace to cyberspace through the emergence of electronic communications and digital formats has led to a disjuncture between the law and practices relating to electronic transactions. The speed at which information technology has developed require a faster, more reactive and automatic response from the law that is not currently met by the existing law-making framework. This paper suggests the development of special rules to enable Internet custom to form legal norms to fulfill this objective.     

‘Customary internet-ional law’: Creating a body of customary law for cyberspace. Part 2: Applying custom as law to the Internet infrastructure

The shift in socio-economic transactions from real space to cyberspace through the emergence of electronic communications and digital formats has led to a disjuncture between the law and practices relating to electronic transactions. The speed at which information technology has developed require a faster, more reactive and automatic response from the law that is not currently met by the existing law-making framework. This paper suggests the development of special rules to enable Internet custom to form legal norms to fulfill this objective. In Part 2 of this article, I will construct the customary rules to Internet law-making that are applicable to electronic transactions by adapting customary international law rules; apply the suggested rules for determining customary Internet norms and identify some existing practices that may amount to established norms on the Internet, specifically practices relating to the Internet Infrastructure and Electronic Contracting.     

破产法立法若干重大问题的国际比较

中国新破产法的起草正处于一个关键的时期。在破产法起草中存在一些关键的、重大的、有争议的问题,这些问题主要可以归纳为以下九方面:为什么要制定破产法、破产法的立法结构、适用范围、破产原因、破产管理人制度、企业重整制度、破产财产清偿顺序、金融机构等特殊主体破产以及跨境破产等。就这些内容对美国、英国、澳大利亚、德国、法国、日本、俄罗斯等国的破产法律制度以及中国目前的新破产法草案进行比较研究,可以对中国新破产法的制定提供借鉴。     

The subordination of shareholder loans in bankruptcy

Bankruptcy and corporate laws in several countries allow or require courts to subordinate loans by shareholders to corporations. Examples include the German Eigenkapitalersatzrecht and the equitable subordination and recharacterization doctrines in the US. I use a model to show the incentive effects of subordination when a controlling shareholder attempts to rescue a closely held corporation by extending a loan. Even though subordination has some beneficial effects, it deters some desirable rescue attempts and is an insufficient deterrent for some undesirable ones. Legal reform should thus focus on narrowing down the scope of application to undesirable shareholder loans, where more severe penalties than subordination should apply.     

The impact of economic theories on the law in market relations

The impact of economic theories on legal development, thinking and practice is undeniable. This is particularly true for neo-classical and institutional economics. Neo-classical economics are based on model assumptions of human behaviour such as pursuit of personal advantage, individualistic goals, complete information and at the same time law obedience which are the foundations of the functioning of the market mechanisms. The assumption leads to an almost mystical belief in the self-regulatory power of the market and a strong disdain and disapproval of the State. The concepts of a minimal State and de-regulation of all social relations follow from there. This article argues that model assumptions are valid scientific tools, as long as they are not taken to reflect the real world which is populated by real people that are not necessarily behaving like homines oeconomici. Preaching de-regulation and the dismissal of the State can prove simplistic and even dangerous and may lead to financial and economic crises like the ones witnessed in recent years. Institutional economics part from these empirical findings. They do not question individualism and the pursuit of egoistic objectives of market-participants, but they insist on inherent risks of this mechanism which stems from opportunistic behaviour, lack of information and transparency and the limits of trust. Property economists deduct from there that sustainable and dynamic economic development is unthinkable without well defined property title, the distinction of property and possession and credit securities. These institutions cannot be self-regulatory but need a clear legal frame, in other words rules established by a State. Transaction costs economists understand the danger of opportunistic behaviour and a corresponding systemic lack of trust in the negotiation, conclusion and execution of contracts. They underline the necessity of institutions which are capable of limiting these dangers and thus reducing transaction costs. Institutions may be customs, informal arrangements and formal law. At the end two examples are presented-real estate transactions and post-patriarchal family relations-to test the utility of these considerations.     

The sociology of the sociology of law: A view from economics

The sociology of law appears to be a weak field in the United States, in comparison to other indisciplinary fields of legal study, notably economic analysis of law. Although American legal sociologists have done important empirical work, particularly on the litigation process and on the legal profession, the focus of American sociology of law has been narrow, theoretically limited, and, empirically, limited in both scope and method. These deficiencies may reflect the methodological limitations of Max Weber, the most influential figure in the history of sociology in general and sociology of law in particular. The failure of legal sociologists to borrow theoretical and empirical tools from sociologically minded economists such as Gary Becker is especially regrettable, and may be due to inaccurate perceptions of the political valence of economic analysis of law, sociology's traditional skepticism about the knowledge claims of other disciplines, professional envy, and misunderstanding of the economists' conception of rational choice.     

对一起私营医院缓报传染病疫情案件的法律适用问题的分析

本文通过对一起私营医院缓报传染病疫情案件的案例分析,重点剖析该案在法律适用上的争议问题,即本案应适用上位法还是下位法。在探讨此问题时,本文分别从以下两个角度予以剖析,一是将对上位法进行法律解释的角度作为切人点,探讨在法律选择上本案是否会涉及到上位法优于下位法这一基本的法律冲突解决原则;二是从对下位法立法原则剖析角度分析下位法本身的科学性。     

论赌博罪的完善——法经济学的视角

我国刑法已明确地将赌博作为一种犯罪进行处罚.但由于我国法律没有很好地考虑刑罚的效率性和经济性,在赌博犯罪立法上还存在着一定的缺陷和漏洞.通过法经济学方法,对赌博犯罪立法的正当性和效率性进行分析,提出完善我国赌博犯罪立法的建议.     

物权法中的公法问题

以保护私人财产权为宗旨的物权法，其颁布在全社会引起了极大的反响。本文从公法的视角。围绕物权法的内容，对物权与财产权的关系、物权平等保护、公权力对物权的保护及可能的侵害、国家征收征用补偿制度中的公共利益等问题进行分析，希望对物权法有深刻的认识和思考。     

民法何为--对民法本质追求的思考

作为部门法的民法,源自古代欧洲的罗马法,当时叫"市民法",后被注入"私法"、"私权法"、"市民社会的法"等诸多信息.中国通过日本从西方民法及至罗马私法那里继受了作为表征基本部门法的民法.西方传统理解民法或私法的实质含义,是在个人与国家对立的基础上进行的.民法以人为中心,以权利为基点,以行为手段,以责任为保障.民法上的人即市民、私人、私主体,含自然人、法人、非法人团体等.近代社会的个人是个人主义的个人,而现代的个人是兼顾社会乃至自然理念中的个人.称民法人是"经济人"、"具体人"、"抽象人"等多是用作分析民法问题的方法.兼顾社会乃至自然的个人主义和自由主义是民法的哲学基础.民法并未真正社会化.民法所涉及的领域是有限的.民法在精神方面追求平等和自由.这些都涉及到民法本位即民法的中心任务和价值标准问题.     

执法人性化争议

执法人性化在我国的刑事执法领域和行政执法领域是比较时髦的话题,但实践中依然存在一些错误倾向,本文主要探讨执法人性化的必然性和如何实现执法人性化的问题。     

新版《药品管理法》的主要内容与特色研究

经2019年8月修订后的《中华人民共和国药品管理法》的出台是国家药品管理的立法典范。它在完善卫生法律体系的立法架构下,通过采用修订立法方式,界定区分假、劣药品概念,强调信用监管,规范网络售药行为,鼓励科技创新,明确法律责任与处罚,突出法律的回应性立法特征,保障公民健康权利。法律的生命在于实施。应结合社会主义法治理念要求,建议健全药品的配套法规,严格药品监管执法,合理开展普法宣传,加强司法适用,实现"良法善治"的目的。     

法眼和钱眼：深化中国院校研究的两维视角

院校研究需要多学科介入。在高等学校不断推进依法治校和科学理财的过程中,迫切需要院校研究不断深化高校管理和运行中的法学和经济学研究,以提供有针对性、专业性的政策咨询。