UNDERSTANDING THE DESIGN OF CONVERTIBLE DEBT

There are now two dominant theories of convertible debt held by academic economists. One theory which has been called the "risk-shifting" hypothesis-effectively views convertibles as an alternative to straight debt. The second-known as the "sig-nalling" (or "backdoor-equity") theory-treats convertibles as an alternative to ordinary equity. This article attempts to unify (or at least to illustrate the relationship between) these two theories by focusing on the design of the securities. 1998 Morgan Stanley.