This paper shows that the optimal leverage decreases with asset volatility risk in a trade-off framework. Thus, the paper relates the asset volatility risk premium to the underleverage puzzle. In models without volatility risk, the paper empirically documents that underleverage increases with...

In this paper, we revisit a frequently employed simplification within the WACC approach that company cost of capital kV is supposed to be invariant to the debt ratio and therefore equal to the unlevered cost kU . Even though we know from Miles and Ezzell (1980) that kV formally differs from kU ,...

In this study we investigate the impact of the thin capitalization rule (TCR), introduced in Germany in 2008, on firms' capital structure, investment and profitability. The identification of the causal effects is based on the escape clauses in the regulation using a difference-in-difference...

This paper studies the relationship between investment volatility, capital structure, and cash levels. Our evidence suggests: i) firms with relatively high realizations of future investment volatility hold relatively low levels of debt and high levels of cash, ii) firms fund large investment by...

The global economy is in the midst of an unprecedented slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic. This systemic risk like no other at a time of record-breaking debt levels, especially among nonfinancial firms across the world, could exacerbate corporate vulnerabilities, deepen macro-financial...

We build a dynamic capital structure model to study the link between systematic risk exposure and debt maturity, as well as their joint impact on the term structure of credit spreads. Our model allows for time variation and lumpiness in the maturity structure. Relative to short-term debt,...

The frequency with which firms adjust output prices helps explain persistent differences in capital structure across firms. Unconditionally, the most exible-price firms have a 19% higher long-term leverage ratio than the most sticky-price firms, controlling for known determinants of capital...

This paper provides a compact summary of the evidence on capital structure instability and a case-based exploratory investigation of sources of such instability. Substantial instability in capital structure is the norm at publicly held nonfinancial firms. Firm-specific episodes of leverage...

I examine how the labor market in which firms operate affects their capital structure decisions. Based on US Census Bureau data and information on companies' decisions to locate their new operations, I use a large plant opening as an abrupt increase in the size of a local labor market. I find...

The frequency with which firms adjust output prices is an important determinant of persistent differences in capital structure across firms. The most flexible-price firms have a 19% higher long-term financial leverage ratio than the most sticky-price firms, controlling for known determinants of...