Are all covenants equally effective at reducing the bondholder-shareholder conflict? Examining the most frequently used bond covenants, we document that four out of 24 restrictions are associated with significantly higher bankruptcy risk. The use of these Default Indicating covenants can be...

We empirically investigate the effect of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on corporate cash holdings using a large sample of international firms. EPU intensifies concerns of investors on managerial self-dealing and political extraction. Consequently, the potential cost of cash holdings (i.e.,...

We model how a cash flow risk exposure is associated with higher bond yield spreads even if the factor is not priced in bond returns. Our model predicts that the absolute values of cash flow exposures are priced in yields. Additionally, we show how yields can provide a test for whether a factor...

Riskier firms use more covenants, yet effective covenants should reduce the probability of bankruptcy by restricting management's actions. We disentangle these two relations between covenant use and bankruptcy risk by considering predicted and actual covenant use. We find that predicted covenant...