ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an analysis of the most significant differences in bankruptcy laws in Italy, England, and the United States (US) between c1800 and the 1930s. It explores the most important phases of the evolution of bankruptcy legislation in the three examples, analysing the role played by lobbying groups. The chapter focuses on three specific issues: the differences between the workings of the debt-discharge system in England and the US, the length of the time necessary for Italian lawmakers to adopt English-style official management of bankruptcy procedures, and the differences between friendly debtor-creditor agreements in the two countries. It argues two forces prevented the market for bankruptcy legislation from being a real free market and thus enabling the most efficient solutions to emerge. The power of lobbying groups to interfere with process of institutional change is one cause. Path-dependency in the process of institutional change is the other.
