The empirical international literature on the relationship between firm cash flow volatility and debt maturity and zero-debt policy provides contradictory evidence. Using a large international sample, we find that cash flow volatility is positively associated with our measure of debt maturity at...

We use a new international setting to test and strengthen the identification of “target leverage hypothesis” in the payout policy literature. We conduct a quasi-natural experiment induced by staggered share repurchase legalization in 17 economies and analyze its influences on leverage...

This paper provides new empirical evidence on the effects of firm-level financing patterns on their profitability and productivity, contributing to two related literatures: (i) should the link between financial development and growth be conducted at a firm level? (ii) which type of financing...

Does state ownership hinder or help firms access credit? We use data on almost 4 million firms in 89 countries to study the relationship between state ownership and corporate leverage. Controlling for country-sector-year fixed effects and conventional firm-level determinants of leverage, we show...

Does state ownership hinder or help firms access credit? We use data on almost 4 million firms in 89 countries to study the relationship between state ownership and corporate leverage. Controlling for country-sector-year fixed effects and conventional firm-level determinants of leverage, we show...

Using a large sample of firms across 35 countries from 2001 to 2021, we show a significantly positive association between a firm's climate risk exposure and speed of leverage adjustment. A plausible explanation is that climate risk exposure mitigates agency conflicts and improves information...

This paper empirically examines the impact of exposure to climate change risk on the firm's financing decisions. We study publicly traded firms listed in the U.S. from Compustat between 2002 and 2020. Our analysis contributes to the literature by establishing a direct relationship between...

Using a large sample of firms from 43 markets, we find significant time-series variations in firms’ leverage ratios around the world. Industry median leverage ratios and aggregate leverage ratios also change substantially over time. Relative to actual leverage ratios, target leverage ratios...

This paper studies the effect of labor protection on the relation between employee satisfaction and firm capital structure across 32 countries. The stakeholder theory of capital structure states that firms whose values are derived largely from their human capital tend to maintain a lower debt...

Recent studies examining the effects of a credit rating on firms’ capital structure and adjustment of capital structure to target have focused predominantly on non-financial firms, with virtually no attention given to financial institutions. Using an international sample of 391 rated banks...