If there were no costs associated with the event called bankruptcy the total market value
of the firm would not be affected by increasing the probability of its incurrence. However, it is
costly, if not impossible, to write contracts representing claims on a firm which clearly delineate
the rights of holders for all possible contingencies. Thus even if there were no adverse incentive
effects in expanding fixed claims relative to equity in a firm, the use of such fixed claims would be
constrained by the costs inherent in defining and enforcing those claims. Firms incur obligations
daily to suppliers, to employees, to different classes of investors, etc. So long as the firm is
prospering, the adjudication of claims is seldom a problem. When the firm has difficulty meeting
some of its obligations, however, the issue of the priority of those claims can pose serious
problems. This is most obvious in the extreme case where the firm is forced into bankruptcy. If
bankruptcy were costless, the reorganization would be accompanied by an adjustment of the
claims of various parties and the business, could, if that proved to be in the interest of the
claimants, simply go on (although perhaps under new management)
If there were no costs associated with the event called bankruptcy the total market value
of the firm would not be affected by increasing the probability of its incurrence. However, it is
costly, if not impossible, to write contracts representing claims on a firm which clearly delineate
the rights of holders for all possible contingencies. Thus even if there were no adverse incentive
effects in expanding fixed claims relative to equity in a firm, the use of such fixed claims would be
constrained by the costs inherent in defining and enforcing those claims. Firms incur obligations
daily to suppliers, to employees, to different classes of investors, etc. So long as the firm is
prospering, the adjudication of claims is seldom a problem. When the firm has difficulty meeting
some of its obligations, however, the issue of the priority of those claims can pose serious
problems. This is most obvious in the extreme case where the firm is forced into bankruptcy. If
bankruptcy were costless, the reorganization would be accompanied by an adjustment of the
claims of various parties and the business, could, if that proved to be in the interest of the
claimants, simply go on (although perhaps under new management)
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