Debt-to-equity conversion in bankruptcy reorganization and post-bankruptcy firm survival

Abstract

Debt-to-equity conversion is a commonly used legal tool for financial restructuring of ailing businesses, yet systematic evidence on the consequences of debt-to-equity conversion for firm outcomes is scarce. Drawing on a novel dataset of bankruptcy reorganizations from Slovenia and exploiting variation in the incidence of debt-to-equity conversion across firms, we provide the first empirical analysis of the role of debt-to-equity conversion in bankruptcy reorganization as a determinant of post-bankruptcy firm survival. To address endogeneity concerns, we use a plethora of controls and fixed effects, quantify the sensitivity of our estimates to selection on unobservables, and rely on instrumental variable methods. We find that debt-to-equity conversion is robustly negatively associated with prospects of post-bankruptcy firm failure. Our findings provide a novel input into ongoing debates about the appropriate design of corporate bankruptcy institutions.