We examine how accounting-based compensation plans influence a firm's contracts with its creditors. After granting long-term accounting-based compensation plans (LTAPs) to CEOs, firms pay lower spreads and have fewer restrictive covenants in new bank loans. Mechanisms leading to lower borrowing...

This study examines whether audit firm industry specialization affects the cost of debt finance of business. We hypothesize that audit firm industry specialization reduces client cost of debt since auditors with industry specialization are more likely to deter and detect questionable accounting...