We offer evidence of a new stylized feature of corporate financing decisions: the tendency of managers to rely more on debt financing when earnings prospects are poor. We term this 'leaning against the wind' and consider three possible explanations: market timing, precautionary financing, and...

This paper develops a model with the novel feature that firms can renegotiate debt both in and outside distress. We show that this feature is crucial for debt renegotiation models to explain corporate policies and debt prices. Specifically, the model reflects empirical credit spread patterns,...

Lending relationships matter for firm financing. In a model of debt dynamics, we study how lending relationships are formed and how they impact leverage and debt maturity choices. In the model, lending relationships evolve through repeated interactions between firms and debt investors. Stronger...