Existing research shows that bidder default risk increases following acquisitions due to a rise in post-acquisition leverage and managerial risk-taking actions offsetting the potential for asset diversification. This study examines whether the risk effects of acquiring distressed targets are...

We develop a unified framework to connect cash holding, debt maturity and mergers and acquisitions. We provide empirical support for four internally consistent predictions: i) equity and debt values of highly distressed firms are more sensitive to cash reserve than those of healthy firms; ii)...

Upstream producers that possess market power, sell forwards with a lengthy duration to regional electricity companies (REC). As part of the liberalization of the electricity market, RECs have been privatized and exposed to a possible bankruptcy threat if spot prices have fallen below their...

Upstream producers that possess market power, sell forwards with a lengthy duration to regional electricity companies (REC). As part of the liberalization of the electricity market, RECs have been privatized and exposed to a possible bankruptcy threat if spot prices have fallen below their...

We are the first, with a risk-taking perspective of corporate governance, to investigate the differential effect of corporate governance on downside and upside risk. Intuitively, strong corporate governance should decrease the downside risk but increase the upside risk. However, using a large...

Are all covenants equally effective at reducing the bondholder-shareholder conflict? Examining the most frequently used bond covenants, we document that four out of 24 restrictions are associated with significantly higher bankruptcy risk. The use of these Default Indicating covenants can be...

In this study we develop a theoretical model for ultimate loss-given default in the Merton (1974) structural credit risk model framework, deriving compound option formulae to model differential seniority of instruments, and incorporating an optimal foreclosure threshold. We consider an extension...

We analyze the treatment and impact of idiosyncratic or firm-specific risk in regulation. Regulatory authorities regularly ignore firm-specific characteristics, such as size or asset ages, implying different risk exposure in incentive regulation. In contrast, it is common to apply only a single...

We develop a dynamic model of banking to assess the effects of liquidity and leverage requirements on banks' insolvency risk. In this model, banks face taxation, flotation costs of securities, and default costs and maximize shareholder value by making their financing, liquid asset holdings, and...

Using a novel data set and new proxies for rollover losses and market illiquidity, this paper finds that market illiquidity affects corporate bond spreads beyond a liquidity premium through a “rollover risk channel”. This effect is economically significant during episodes of market...