Bankruptcy is the legal process by which financially distressed firms and individuals resolve their debts. It is an important part of the legal environment for small business owners and their lenders because small businesses are very risky and often fail and because bankruptcy law affects how business owners and their lenders are treated in the event of failure. Both personal and corporate bankruptcy law are relevant for most small businesses, as even when businesses are incorporated, lenders often require that business owners personally guarantee loans to the business. This article discusses theoretical models and empirical tests of how bankruptcy law affects small business, including the effects of bankruptcy law on incentives to start and remain in business, how bankruptcy law affects small business credit, and whether bankruptcy law leads to efficient decisions concerning whether failing businesses reorganize or liquidate. Research using small business data from both the United States and other countries is covered in this survey.

中文翻译：

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小企业破产

破产是陷入财务困境的公司和个人解决债务的法律程序。对于小企业主及其贷方来说，这是法律环境的重要组成部分，因为小企业风险很大且经常破产，并且破产法影响了企业主及其贷方在失败时的待遇。个人破产法和公司破产法都与大多数小型企业有关，因为即使成立了企业，贷方也经常要求企业所有者亲自为企业担保贷款。本文讨论了破产法如何影响小企业的理论模型和实证检验，包括破产法对创业和继续经营的动机的影响，破产法如何影响小企业信用，以及破产法是否导致有关失败企业重组或清算的有效决策。本调查涵盖使用来自美国和其他国家/地区的小型企业数据进行的研究。