Bailout Stigma

Journal of Finance, 2024

Yeon-Koo Che, Chongwoo Choe, Keeyoung Rhee

Working Paper No. 00217-00

We develop a model of bailout stigma in which accepting a bailout signals a firm's balance-sheet weakness and reduces its funding prospects. To avoid stigma, high-quality firms withdraw from subsequent financing after receiving bailouts or refuse bailouts altogether to send a favorable signal. The former leads to a short-lived stimulation followed by a market freeze even worse than if there were no bailout. The latter revives the funding market, albeit with delay, to the level achievable without any stigma and implements a constrained optimal outcome. A menu of multiple bailout programs compounds bailout stigma and exacerbates the market freeze.


Yeon-Koo Che

Yeon-Koo Che

Chongwoo Choe

Chongwoo Choe

Keeyoung Rhee

Keeyoung Rhee

Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU)