Consumer Choice and Corporate Bankruptcy

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Antill, Samuel; Hunter, Megan
• 署名单位: Harvard University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1082; 1540-6261
• DOI: 10.1111/jofi.70030
• 发表日期: 2026-06
• 关键词: FINANCIAL LEVERAGE; product quality; asset prices; IMPACT; INFORMATION; COMPETITION; distress; BEHAVIOR; COSTS

摘要

We estimate the indirect costs of corporate bankruptcy associated with lost customers. In incentivized experiments, randomly informing consumers about a firm's Chapter 11 reorganization lowers their willingness to pay for the firm's products by 17% to 28%. Consumers worry that bankruptcy could reduce product quality or prevent future interactions with the bankrupt firm. On average, 38% of consumers are aware of major bankruptcies. Using our experiments to estimate a structural model, we show that these indirect costs of bankruptcy amount to 12% to 15% of a firm's value. We show that these costs are unlikely to arise before bankruptcy.