Erschienen in:
The Journal of Finance, 75 (2020) 1, Seite 45-90
Sprache:
Englisch
DOI:
10.1111/jofi.12846
ISSN:
0022-1082;
1540-6261
Entstehung:
Anmerkungen:
Beschreibung:
<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:p>France's <jats:italic>Ordonnance 2006‐346</jats:italic> repudiated the notion of <jats:italic>possessory ownership</jats:italic> in the Napoleonic Code, easing the pledge of physical assets in a country where credit was highly concentrated. A differences‐test strategy shows that firms operating newly pledgeable assets significantly increased their borrowing following the reform. Small, young, and financially constrained businesses benefitted the most, observing improved credit access and real‐side outcomes. Start‐ups emerged with higher “at‐inception” leverage, located farther from large cities, with more assets‐in‐place than before. Their exit and bankruptcy rates declined. Spatial analyses show that the reform reached firms in rural areas, reducing credit access inequality across France's countryside.</jats:p>