Conditional conservatism has caused a controversy in recent literature in regards to whether it is rather driven by reporting demands originating from debt or equity markets. Extending the work of Ball/Shivakumar (2005), who found public companies to report conditionally more conservative than...

We derive and present the formula for optimal debt under the assumption that tax shields are discounted at the cost of levered equity, Ke and cash flows are on perpetuity. The formulation is consistent and is derived from basic financial principles. This formulation is valid for non-growing...

We present the derivation of cost of capital under the assumption of risky tax shields discounted with the cost of levered equity. We show that the formulation is consistent and is derived from basic financial principles. This formulation is valid for finite cash flows and non growing...

La versión española de este artículo se puede encontrar en: "http://ssrn.com/abstract=1826264" http://ssrn.com/abstract=1826264This paper shows how to proceed to find the optimal capital structure and value with period-to-period constant and variable leverage, when the discount rate for tax...

This paper has an English version and can be downloaded from: "http://ssrn.com/abstract=1799605" http://ssrn.com/abstract=1799605En este trabajo se muestra cómo encontrar la estructura óptima de capital y el valor con un endeudamiento constante y variable período a período, cuando la tasa de...

I identify three sources of risk for the tax shields: two of them associated to the risk of debt and one associated to the operating risk. I present a set of conditions for defining risky debt associated to cash flow and not to accounting earnings. I explain why realization of tax shields for...

This article (1) identifies three sources of risk for tax shields (TS): Two of them are associated with debt risk and one is associated with operating risk. (2) A set of conditions for defining risky debt associated with cash flow, not with earnings, is presented. (3) It further shows that...

We develop a model of managerial compensation structure and asset risk choice. The model provides predictions about how inside debt features affect the relation between credit spreads and compensation components. First, inside debt reduces credit spreads only if it is unsecured. Second, inside...

In response to technological change, U.S. corporations have been investing more in intangible capital. This transformation is empirically associated with lower leverage and greater cash holdings, and commonly explained as a precautionary response to reduced debt capacity. We model how firms'...

Theory posits that managerial holdings of debt (“inside debt”) align managers' incentives with those of outside debtholders. Executive pensions, which consist of ERISA-qualified rank-and-file (RAF) plans and Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans (SERPs), and other deferred compensation...