There is anecdotal evidence that the primary reason why managers hold cash on their balance sheets is to cover operating losses (operating shortfalls). In this paper, we rationalize this as an optimal response in a world with contract heterogeneity. Specifically, we relax the standard assumption...

Abstract This paper develops a theory of the firm's weighted average cost of capital (WACC) and the marginal tax rate with risky debt and potentially redundant depreciation and interest tax shields. The tax shields' risks, the firm’s borrowing interest rate and its marginal tax rate are...