We argue that the prospect of an imperfect enforcement of debt contracts in default reduces shareholder-debtholder conflicts and induces leveraged firms to invest more and take on less risk as they approach financial distress. To test these predictions, we use a large panel of firms in 41...

As firms have more assets in place, more of management's limited attention is focused on managing assets in place rather than developing new growth options. Consequently, as firms grow older, they have fewer growth options and a lower ability to generate new growth options. This simple theory...

We examine the impact of employment protection legislation (EPL) on individual firms' growth opportunities, as measured by Tobin's q. On the one hand, by increasing job security, EPL spurs innovation effort. Yet that boost only occurs in firms with little comparative advantage at original...

We build a model of investment and financing decisions to study the choice between bonds and bank loans in a firm's marginal financing decision and its effects on corporate investment. We show that firms with more growth options, higher bargaining power in default, operating in more competitive...

The paper investigates the relationship between the investment holding horizon and liquidity. I confirm and expand earlier findings on this issue: less liquid stocks are held by long term investors. Further, I find that stocks held for a short period carry more of liquidity risk. This means that...