We propose a method to consistently estimate the cost of debt in a continuous-time framework with an infinite time horizon. The approach builds on the EBIT-based model of Goldstein et al. (2001). The model is capable of splitting the observed yield spread of a corporate bond into the risk...

How valuable are restrictive debt covenants in reducing the agency costs of debt? I exploit the revealed preference decision to refinance fixed-coupon bonds, which weighs observable interest rate savings against the unobservable costs of a change in restrictive covenants. Variation in this...