This survey paper examines existing theories of capital structure and related empirical tests with the aim to derive theoretical as well empirically testable predictions about the implications of the soft budget constraint for corporate capital structure. We show that the soft budget constraint...

The corporation's core objective is to further the interests of shareholders. But one judicially crafted exception has long existed. In many jurisdictions around the world, financial distress mandates a shift to a duty to creditors. In May 2007, the Delaware Supreme Court announced a modern law...

The adequacy of creditor protection is an on-going issue in corporate law. The traditional vulnerability of creditors can be traced to an entity theory of the corporation, coupled with limited liability. Creditor vulnerability is exacerbated by the existence of the corporate group, which has...

This paper examines how legal, institutional, and social frameworks impact bank financing of firms. It builds on theory about law and finance and about finance and growth, drawing on financial economics, law, and political science. The paper uses qualitative data from field studies in Peru and...

In this paper we theorize how bondholders and shareholders negotiate debt covenants after a firm has already filed for bankruptcy. This event triggers unique turmoil in the transfer of control rights between shareholders and creditors, and it further opens a window of opportunity for...

A hot growth stock in the 1980s, L.A. Gear's equity fell from $1 billion in market value in 1989 to zero in 1998. For over six years as revenues declined precipitously, management tried a series of radical strategy shifts while subsidizing the firm's large losses through working-capital...

We use a sample of U.S. dual-class companies to examine how the divergence between insider control rights and cash-flow rights affects managerial extraction of private benefits of control. We find that as the insider control-cash flow rights divergence becomes larger, dual-class acquirers...

Using a dataset of 28,635 firms in 45 countries, this study investigates the motivations for family-controlled business groups. We provide new evidence consistent with the argument that particular group structures emerge not only to perpetuate control, but also to alleviate financing constraints...

We study the dynamics of initial public offerings (IPOs) by examining the tradeoff between an entrepreneur's private benefits, which are lost whenever the firm is publicly traded, and the gains from diversification. We characterize the timing dimension of the decision to go public and its impact...