Personal Bankruptcy and the Level of Entrepreneurial Activity

29 Pages Posted: 15 Nov 2002 Last revised: 20 Apr 2022

See all articles by Wei Fan

Wei Fan

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Department of Economics

Michelle J. White

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Date Written: November 2002

Abstract

The U.S. personal bankruptcy system functions as a bankruptcy system for small businesses as well as consumers, because debts of non-corporate firms are personal liabilities of the firms' owners. If the firm fails, the owner has an incentive to file for bankruptcy, since both business debts and the owner's personal debts will be discharged. In bankruptcy, the owner must give up assets above a fixed exemption level. Because exemption levels are set by the states, they vary widely. We show that higher bankruptcy exemption levels benefit potential entrepreneurs who are risk averse by providing partial wealth insurance and therefore the probability of owning a business increases as the exemption level rises. We test this prediction and find that the probability of households owning businesses is 35% higher if they live in states with unlimited rather than low exemptions. We also find that the probability of starting a business and the probability of owning a corporate rather than non-corporate business are higher for households that live in high exemption states.

Suggested Citation

Fan, Wei and White, Michelle J., Personal Bankruptcy and the Level of Entrepreneurial Activity (November 2002). NBER Working Paper No. w9340, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=351432

Wei Fan

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Department of Economics ( email )

611 Tappan Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1220
United States
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Michelle J. White (Contact Author)

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Department of Economics ( email )

9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0508
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Cambridge, MA 02138
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