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This article explores how company law reforms, particularly the reduction or abolition of minimum capital requirements, in various European jurisdictions affect the decision of entrepreneurs to incorporate by means of a private limited liability company ( LLC). Since the landmark rulings of the European Court of Justice ( ECJ) in the years 1999, 2002 and 2003, entrepreneurs in the European Union ( EU) have been able to choose the country of incorporation independently of their real seat. As a result, the proliferation of the United Kingdom private company limited by shares has posed a competitive threat to many European legislators. The article analyzes whether the reforms adopted in Spain, France, Hungary, Germany and Poland have promoted the popularity of domestic legal forms and encouraged entrepreneurship more generally. Using a difference-in-difference approach, a strong impact is recorded in both respects, especially if the minimum capital requirement was reduced or abolished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Council Regulation (EC) No 2157/2001 on the Statute for a European Company (Societas Europaea - SE) became effective on 8 October 2004, it offered existing publicly traded companies, for the first time, a choice between competing company laws, namely the national law of the company's home state and the law of the supranational SE. Using an event study methodology, we analyse a unique dataset of publicly traded firms that have announced to re-incorporate under the SE Regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]