The German "Zinsschranke" limits the tax deductability of interest expenses. Recently, in this journal Förster et al. have developed a model to incorporate this tax regulation into the calculation of the tax shield in corporate valuation. Our paper critically comments on this proposal. --...

The theoretical literature suggests that when taking tax effects into account, debt ought to be preferable to equity. However, there are no uniform predictions of the size of this tax benefit (tax shield) in comparison to an opposing increasing cost of debt (especially insolvency costs). The...