Bankruptcy, product liability, and hazardous waste
Bankruptcy does not serve the goals underlying product liability and hazardous waste laws, which are to discourage accidents and to compensate accident victims. The author contends that changes in the existing priority scheme could improve the situation by encouraging corporation to improve their compliance with product liability and hazardous waste laws. He discusses the efficiency rationale of existing laws, then describes the theoretical rationales for the bankruptcy and secured credit systems. His Superpriority Proposal creates two beneficial effects by subordinating voluntary creditors to involuntary creditors: (1) it reduces the extent to which corporate debtors can externalize actual product costs based on their probability of insolvency, and (2) it provides incentives for voluntary creditors to monitor for debtor misconduct and corporate debtors to reassure and persuade creditors.
- Research Organization:
- Virginia Journal of Natural Resources Law, Charlottesville
- OSTI ID:
- 6861870
- Journal Information:
- Va. J. Nat. Resour. Law; (United States), Vol. 6:1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Hazardous waste and bankruptcy: Confronting the unasked questions
Recent developments in lender liability under CERCLA: Coping with [open quotes]animal house[close quotes] disorder
Related Subjects
POLICY AND ECONOMY
CONSUMER PRODUCTS
CIVIL LIABILITY
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
ECONOMIC IMPACT
ECONOMIC POLICY
LEGAL ASPECTS
REGULATORY GUIDES
VICTIMS COMPENSATION
WASTE DISPOSAL ACTS
DOCUMENT TYPES
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
LAWS
LIABILITIES
MATERIALS
290300* - Energy Planning & Policy- Environment
Health
& Safety
290200 - Energy Planning & Policy- Economics & Sociology