When companies fail workers lose their jobs which raises the unemployment rate and some displaced workers with less financial wealth, larger financial obligations, and who are the sole bread winners in a family become likely candidates for a personal bankruptcy filing. The central role played by...

The relationship between personal and firm bankruptcy is intuitively understood but has not been previously studied. When a person files a bankruptcy petition they reduce their spending on goods and services sold by companies. Similarly, when a firm files for bankruptcy some employees lose their...