How does a creditor’s learning from a firm’s strategic actions affect bankruptcy prediction, debt values, and optimal capital structure? We investigate a Leland (1994) setting augmented by asymmetric information on the firm’s asset value. Observing the firm’s survival of apparently...

I analyze credit rating agencies and competition on a market with more than two agencies. Both investors and agencies react to each other's behavior. My model predicts cyclic dynamics in the base case: not only does the presence of trusting investors facilitate ratings inflation. In turn,...

We propose a novel framework for investigating learning dynamics on a competitive debt market. Observing a firm's survival of apparently distressed periods, the market eliminates asset value estimates that are too low to be consistent with the observed survival. Therefore, the firm's cost of...

Investment-Timing in einer vollkommenen Welt -- Ökonomische Fundierung von Emissionskosten -- Investment-Timing bei Finanzierungsbeschränkungen -- Investment-Timing bei Interessenkonflikten -- Schlussbetrachtung und Ausblick.