We find a significant positive relation between changes in policy uncertainty and changes in credit spreads. Macroeconomic conditions, including general uncertainty, do not explain this result, which also holds when we use instrumental variables to address endogeneity issues. Policy uncertainty...

This study proposes a novel method based on within-zone leverage variations to measure the magnitude of stable leverage episodes at the firm level. Using this method, we investigate a leading candidate determinant of such episodes' length: access to credit. Using a discontinuity approach with...

We study the effects of country-level creditor protections on the firm-level choice of debt structure. Using data from 46 countries, we show that firms have more concentrated debt structures in countries with stronger creditor protection. Firms choose debt structure concentrations by trading-off...