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Power, Intercorporate Networks, and “Strategic Bankruptcy”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Kevin J. Delaney
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Abstract

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Strands of scholarly writing on corporate bankruptcy are scattered across the fields of economics, jurisprudence, political science, and policy analysis. These varied perspectives tend to share common weaknesses that point directly to adding a sociological voice to the debate. An analytic framework that emphasizes power, interorganizational ties, and the embeddedness of organizational action in a larger social structure yields new insights into “strategic bankruptcies,” such as the Chapter 11 filing of the Manville Corporation. In turn, this perspective leads to a questioning of some of the basic assumptions concerning the role and operation of bankruptcy law.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , 1989 , pp. 643 - 666
Copyright
Copyright © 1989 The Law and Society Association

Footnotes

I would like to express my appreciation to Gerry Turkel for submitting this paper to the Law and Society Association Student Paper Awards Committee and to Susan Silbey and the other members of the committee for their recognition of this work. I would also like to thank David Carlson, Jonathan D. Casper, Shari Diamond, Rick Eckstein, Mark Granovetter, James Rule, Michael Schwartz, and Debra Swoboda for their thoughtful comments.

References

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