We examine the ex-ante performance of 1185 firms that filed for bankruptcy between 1992 and 2009. Evidence suggests that firm specific poor operating performance and industry wide distress are the principal causes (contributing 42% each for cash flow shortfall) of corporate distress. We observe...

Since its publication, the seminal structural model of default by <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B45">Merton (1974) has become the workhorse for gaining insights about how firms choose their capital structure, a “bread and butter” topic for financial economists. Capital structure theory is inevitably linked to several...</xref>

Private equity, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds and other private pools of capital form part of the growing shadow banking system in the United States; these new financial intermediaries provide an alternative investment mechanism to the traditional banking system. Private equity and hedge...

We estimate firm-specific marginal cost of debt functions for a large panel of companies between 1980 and 2007. The marginal cost curves are identified by exogenous variation in the marginal tax benefits of debt. The location of a given company's cost of debt function varies with characteristics...

We derive a firm's optimal capital structure and managerial compensation contract when employees are averse to bearing their own human capital risk, while equity holders can diversify this risk away. In the presence of corporate taxes, our model delivers optimal debt levels consistent with those...

This paper develops a real option model in which the interaction between debt, liquidation policy and risky investments is studied. We consider a manager who owns the firm and faces the opportunity to invest in risky pro jects which may bo ost current profits at the cost of bankruptcy if they...

This paper contributes to the debate on alternative corporate tax schemes, employing a rigorous real option methodology which has never been used to study both liquidation policy and taxation. Different tax systems are considered, according to whether the tax regime is progressive or flat and...

Using individual-level data on homeowner debt and defaults from 1997 to 2008, we show that borrowing against the increase in home equity by existing homeowners is responsible for a significant fraction of both the sharp rise in U.S. household leverage from 2002 to 2006 and the increase in...

This paper quantifies the “human costs of bankruptcy” by estimating employee wage losses induced by the bankruptcy filing of employers using employee-employer matched data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s LEHD program. We find that employee wages begin to deteriorate one year prior to...

We develop a dynamic investment options model with optimal capital structure and evaluate the effect of time-to-build on firm value and leverage choices. With time-to-build the firm increases initial leverage in order to reduce the impact of delayed cash flows resulting from time-to-build. The...