How does capital market access affect the capital structure decisions of firms? To examine this question, we compare the financing decisions of a large sample of private and public companies from 18 different European countries. We find significant differences in the leverage policies of private...

Corporate capital structure has been a key, challenging puzzle for finance for more than 50 years. Why do firms use the observed financing methods? The literature has developed useful ideas and a much-improved sense of the relevant facts to solve this puzzle. Taxes, the need to fund investments,...

We study the implications of longevity shocks for corporate bond markets, corporate debt financing and investment through the lens of life insurers. Longevity shocks shift life insurers' demand for bonds of specific maturities. When longevity increases, life insurance companies increase their...