We develop a model for pricing risky debt and valuing credit derivatives that is easily calibrated to existing variables. Our approach is based on expanding the Das and Sundaram (2000) extension of the Heath-Jarrow-Morton (1990) term-structure model to allow for multiple ratings classes of debt....

We develop a model for pricing risky debt and valuing credit derivatives that is easily calibrated to existing variables. Our approach is based on expanding the Das and Sundaram (2000) extension of the Heath-Jarrow-Morton (1990) term-structure model to allow for multiple ratings classes of debt....

We develop a model for pricing risky debt and valuing credit derivatives that is easily calibrated to existing variables. Our approach is based on expanding the Das and Sundaram (2000) extension of the Heath-Jarrow-Morton (1990) term-structure model to allow for multiple ratings classes of debt....

We analyze the link between creditor rights and firms' investment policies, proposing that stronger creditor rights in bankruptcy reduce corporate risk-taking. In cross-country analysis, we find that stronger creditor rights induce greater propensity of firms to engage in diversifying...

We present a model for pricing risky debt and valuing credit derivatives that is easily calibrated to existing variables. Our approach expands a classical term-structure modal to allow for multiple rating classes of debt. The framework has two salient features: (1) it uses a rating-transition...

This paper studies equilibrium asset pricing with liquidity risk | the risk arising from unpredictable changes in liquidity over time. It is shown that a security s required return depends on its expected illiquidity and on the covariances of its own return and illiquidity with market return and...

We study empirically the effect of focus (specialization) vs. diversification on the return and the risk of banks using data from 105 Italian banks over the period 1993 1999. Specifically, we analyze the tradeoffs between (loan portfolio) focus and diversification using a unique data set that is...

This paper solves explicitly a simple equilibrium model with liquidity risk. In our liquidityadjusted capital asset pricing model, a security s required return depends on its expected liquidity as well as on the covariances of its own return and liquidity with the market return and liquidity. In...

Recent work has suggested that strategic underperformance of debt-service obligations by equity holders can resolve the gap between observed yield spreads and those generated by Merton (1974)-style models. We show that this is not quite correct. The value of the option to underperform on...

We study empirically the effect of focus (specialization) vs. diversification on the return and the risk of banks using data from 105 Italian banks over the period 1993 1999. Specifically, we analyze the tradeoffs between (loan portfolio) focus and diversification using a unique data set that is...