Economic theory conjectures complementarities between the ranking of creditors in formal insolvency proceedings and the … use of collateral in bank loan contracts as well as the exist-ence of relational compared to arm's length lending. In this … neither confirm that a high priority for secured lenders explains an excessive use of collateral in bank loans nor that a …

about the design of debt contracts. The results derive from the premise that firms must avoid legal insolvency when issuing … new debt because insolvency at issuance would trigger severe operational limitations on the issuer. I first show that … legal insolvency limits debt capacity, limiting the amount of money that a firm can raise with debt. I next show that legal …

We investigate the importance of the housing-based collateral lending channel on firm borrowing, investment and … opacity, and therefore the degree of their reliance on collateral to overcome borrowing constraints. We find that changing … collateral more important …