Existing sources of data on bankruptcy are inadequate for careful analysis local or disaggregated trends. In order to facilitate basic research on this important, timely, and policy-relevant topic, original bankruptcy case files, many of which will soon be destroyed because of the high cost of storing them, are entered into a data set. The project preserves a 1% sample of bankruptcy cases filed Maryland and Eastern Virginia from 1940-2000 with a further data set covering the entire U.S. from passage of the 1898 Bankruptcy Act to the roll-out of electronic bankruptcy records. The case files contain detailed data about household and business finance which will enable a wide range of research on the impact of financial innovations and instability on households and firms.
This research project documents long-run trends in personal bankruptcy, with special emphasis on the use of the bankruptcy law at the local level and among women.
Leaders
