Consumer Bankruptcy in Global Perspective

Iain Ramsay is Professor of Law at Kent Law School, University of Kent at Canterbury. Johanna Niemi-Kiesilainen is Associate Professor in Procedural Law at the University of Helsinki, Finland. William C Whitford is an Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

...will undoubtedly shape the agenda for further research in this field. Adrian Walters Journal of Consumer Policy, Vol.28, Issue 2 2005 We are much indebted to Hart Publishing. So far as I am aware, no books dealing with consumer insolvency have previously been published in this country, and we now have two [Comparative Consumer Insolvency Regimes and Consumer Bankruptcy in Global Perspective] launched in the same month. And they are in many respects complementary, even to the point of having cross-references to each other, as well as being especially timely, in view of the reforms to the law of bankruptcy in England and Wales effected by the Enterprise Act 2002 The two books are a rich source of comparative study extending over a wide range of jurisdictions. These well-researched and informative books make most interesting reading and are to be commended to general as well as specialist readers. Len Sealy Cambridge Law Journal August 2004

• IntroductionJOHANNA NIEMI-KIESILÄINEN, IAIN RAMSAY, WILLIAM C WHITFORDI: Theoretical Perspectives on Consumer Bankruptcy1. Consumer Credit Society and Consumer Bankruptcy: Reflections on Credit Cards and Bankruptcy in the Informational EconomyIAIN RAMSAY2. Collective or Individual? Constructions of Debtors and Creditors in Consumer BankruptcyJOHANNA NIEMI-KIESILÄINEN3. Personal Bankruptcy Law: A Behavioural PerspectiveSAUL SCHWARTZII: Consumer Over-indebtedness in Countries Without Bankruptcy4. Consumer Bankruptcy and Over-indebtedness in BrazilJOSÉ REINALDO DELIMA LOPES5. Development of Consumer Credit in China and Concerns about the Underlying Legal InfrastructureXIAN-CHU ZHANG6. Searching for an Over-indebtedness Regulatory System for Portugal and the European UnionMARIA MANUEL LEIT MAO MARQUES AND CATARINA FRADEIII: New Consumer Bankruptcy Systems7. ‘Thou shalt pay thy debts’ Personal Bankruptcy Law and Inclusive Contract LawUDO REIFNER8. The Political Economy of Personal Bankruptcy in IsraelRAFAEL EFRAT9. Current Trends in Consumer Insolvency in Hong KongCHARLES D BOOTHIV: Changes in and Evaluations of Mature Consumer Bankruptcy Regimes10. Bankruptcy in Transition: The Case of England and Wales—The Neo-Liberal Cuckoo in the European Bankruptcy Nest?IAIN RAMSAY11. Developments in Consumer Bankruptcy in AustraliaROSALIND MASON AND JOHN DUNS12. New Zealand Bankruptcy Law Reform: The New Role of the Official Assignee and the Prospects for a No-Asset RegimeTHOMAS GW TELFER13. Who Uses Chapter 13?TERESA A SULLIVAN, ELIZABETH WARREN, JAY LAWRENCE WESTBROOK14. Generosity Versus Accessibility: Bankruptcy, Consumer Credit and Health Care Finance in the USMELISSA B JACOBYV: Debtor Education and Debtor Counselling15. Can Voluntary Debt Settlement and Consumer Bankruptcy Coexist? The Development of Dutch Insolvency LawNICK HULS, NADJA JUNGMANN, BERT NIEMEIJER16. Debtor Education in Bankruptcy: The Perspective of Interest AnalysisJEAN BRAUCHER17. Establishing Financial Literacy Programmes for Consumer Debtors: Complex Issues on the PlatterKAREN GROSS