We develop and test a model of debt structure and pricing in leveraged buyouts (LBOs). The model accounts for both market and firm specific variables and illustrates how collateral, security and seniority, as well as target future cash-flows and market interest rates determine the cost of...

We combine existing balance sheet and stock market data with two new datasets to study whether, how much, and why bank lending to firms matters for the transmission of monetary policy. The first new dataset enables us to quantify the bank dependence of firms precisely, as the ratio of bank debt...

We revisit the relation between equity returns and financial leverage through the lens of a trade-off model with costly capital structure rebalancing. The model provides a “lookalike” Modigliani-Miller equation that predicts that expected equity returns depend on whether a firm's leverage is...

We show that the structure and pricing of debt in LBOs mostly depend on a single characteristic of the target firm, pre-LBO profitability. We find a positive relationship between pre-LBO profitability and deal leverage, that is consistent with a dynamic trade-off theory of capital structure in...

This paper examines debt structure using a new and comprehensive database on types of debt employed by publicly listed U.S. firms. We find that specialization in a single debt type is a widespread phenomenon, and that the degree of specialization varies widely across different subsamples —...

We review the literature on debt structure, which is a central element in a firm's capital structure. We first survey both theoretical and empirical research pertaining to debt characteristics – maturity and priority – and debt types – bank loans, corporate bonds, credit lines, commercial...