Firms in oligopoly can use debt to commit to a strategic position that negatively affects rival firms and improves profitability. In this paper, I show that an incumbent firm can deter entry by using debt to commit to such a low price that an entrant's lender will not finance entry, even if the...

In recent studies of strategic debt little attention has been paid to the use of debt in deterring potential rivals. I show that in a Bertrand-type industry where costs are uncertain, an incumbent monopolist can deter entry by using debt to commit to a sufficiently low price. If demand is...