Credit derivatives give creditors the possibility to transfer debt cash flow rights to other market participants while retaining control rights. We use the market for credit default swaps (CDSs) as a laboratory to show that the real effects of such debt unbundling crucially hinge on shareholder...

Credit derivatives give creditors the possibility to transfer debt cash flow rights to other market participants while retaining control rights. We use the market for credit default swaps (CDSs) as a laboratory to show that the real effects of such debt unbundling crucially hinge on shareholder...

I examine large shareholders' externalities on other claim holders when firms are financially distressed. To this end, I develop a tractable dynamic model of the interplay between these blockholders and regular equity holders. Blockholders' information acquisition and investment decisions play a...

Credit derivatives allow creditors to transfer debt cash flow rights to other market participants while retaining control rights. Theory predicts that this transfer can create empty creditors that do not fully internalize liquidation costs and liquidate borrowers excessively often. This empty...

The literature shows that a lender becomes reluctant to aid a distressed client after it receives insurance on its outstanding debt via a credit default swap (CDS). The onset of CDS trade thus accelerates client bankruptcy. We predict that the client firm's shareholders would respond by...

Past literature has assumed that negative stock returns around Chapter 11 filing are solely due to new adverse information about firm value. This paper argues that there is also a nonlinear wealth transfer from shareholders to creditors causing shareholder loss. The magnitude of the wealth...

We propose a new role for private investments in public equity (PIPEs) as a mechanism to reduce coordination frictions among existing equity holders. We establish a causal link between the coordination ability of incumbent shareholders and PIPE issuance. This result obtains even after...

This paper examines the effect of ownership structure of a controlling shareholder on the financial constraints of non-financial firms in 22 economies for the 1982-2009 period. We find that the overinvestment propensity of a controlling shareholder becomes less severe with an increase in...

Credit default swaps (CDSs) can create empty creditors who may push borrowers into inefficient bankruptcy but also reduce shareholders' incentives to default strategically. We show theoretically and empirically that the presence and the effects of empty creditors on firm outcomes depend on the...

The option to file a lawsuit against an entrepreneur encourages shareholders to fund projects and to retain entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur, at risk of a lawsuit filing, may save cash as a precautionary measure. When cash accumulates and a lawsuit filing does not occur, an entrepreneur increases...