The economic ramifications of corporate financial distress and bankruptcy have recently gained much attention in academic as well as public policy debates. But empirical evidence on how firms encounter and respond to distress has remained sparce and inconclusive. Philipp Jostarndt analyzes the anatomy of financial distress for a large sample of German corporations. He studies distress-induced changes in ownership and control, success factors in distressed equity infusions, and firms' choice between in- and out-of-court debt restructuring. This book is essential reading for students and scholars with a focus on finance, for legal and financial practitioners, and for policy makers interested in the economics underlying the reorganization of troubled firms and the pricing of distressed securities.