We study the determinants of active debt management through issuance and refinancing decisions for firms around the world. We leverage instrument-level data to create a comprehensive picture of the maturity, currency, and security type composition of firms' debt for a large cross-section of...

We examine whether criminal records of CEOs and rank-and-file employees are associated with firms’ likelihood of bankruptcy and whether lenders adjust their required cost of debt accordingly. We use a nationwide sample of private firms and criminal registers covering all firm employees. We...

This paper examines the effect of organization capital on corporate debt structure. We find that firms with higher organization capital rely more on unsecured debt. Using state-level unemployment insurance benefits and industry median organization capital as instrumental variables, we identity...

We develop a model in which the equilibrium returns of illiquid assets are determined by the debt capacity of arbitrageurs rather than the desire to smooth consumption shocks. Debt allows risk-neutral arbitrageurs to earn a spread between the asset's expected cash flow and its equilibrium price,...

Cooper and Nyborg (2008) derive a tax-adjusted discount rate formula under a constant proportion leverage policy, investor taxes and risky debt. However, their analysis assumes zero recovery in default. We extend their framework to allow for positive recovery rates. We also allow for differences...

This paper shows that long debt maturities eliminate equityholders' incentives to reduce leverage when the firm performs poorly. By contrast, short debt maturities commit equityholders to such leverage reductions. However, shorter debt maturities also lead to higher transactions costs when...

We provide new estimates of the wage costs of firms' debt. Our empirical approach exploits within-firm geographical variation in workers' expected unemployment costs due to variation in local labor market size and uses a large representative sample of public firms. We find that, following an...

We build a dynamic capital structure model to study the link between systematic risk exposure and debt maturity, as well as their joint impact on the term structure of credit spreads. Our model allows for time variation and lumpiness in the maturity structure. Relative to short-term debt,...

This paper examines the effects of public and bank debt financing on firm performance in emerging markets. Using data on 700 publicly traded firms from the BRIC countries, it is documented that bank debt may have a positive effect on firm profitability. While overall market assessment of bank...