Personal Bankruptcy, Asset Risk, and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Tenancy-by-the-Entirety Laws
研究利用美国整体保有法（TBE）作为个人资产保护的外生变化，发现TBE法律与企业资产减少和业主劳动投入下降相关，可能源于道德风险或信贷约束，但未发现TBE提高创业率。
Personal bankruptcy law affects entrepreneurs’ decision-making and small-business credit markets. I show that personal asset protections affect small-business operations and funding sources using tenancy-by-the-entirety (TBE) laws, a novel source of variation in demand for loans and in bankruptcy exemptions. Tenancy-by-the-entirety laws are associated with firms having fewer business assets and less labor input from firms’ owners, which reflects possible moral hazard or credit constraints restricting firms’ asset accumulation. This effect arises through changes in firms’ funding sources necessary to obtain TBE protections. Unlike bankruptcy exemptions, I find no evidence that TBE laws are associated with higher rates of entrepreneurship.