CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND COST OF DEBT: REVIEW OF RECENT STUDIES

We suppose that the agency conflicts between shareholders and bondholders may affect the level of risk of company’s debt instruments, therefore, increasing the cost of debt of the firm. A number of corporate governance mechanisms are developed to alleviate the conflicts. This paper surveys research on the relationship between corporate governance and the cost of debt. We pay special attention to the empirical papers with specific findings on cost of debt’s nonfinancial determinants in emerging markets.