MILLS, LILLIAN F.; NEWBERRY, KAYE J. - In: Journal of Accounting Research 43 (2005) 2, pp. 251-282
We match large U.S. corporations' tax returns during 1989-2001 to their financial statements to construct a firm-level proxy of firms' use of off-balance sheet and hybrid debt financing. We find that firms with less favorable prior-period Standard & Poor's (S&P) bond ratings or higher leverage...