This paper discusses the concept of leverage, its components and how to measure and monitor it. It proposes an innovative approach to assessing leverage based on flows using the concept of a marginal leverage ratio, which reveals the leverage related to new activities, as a valuable supplement...

We study the impact of the COVID-19 recession on capital structure of publicly listed U.S. firms. Our estimates suggest leverage (Net Debt/Asset) decreased by 5.3 percentage points from the pre-shock mean of 19.6 percent, while debt maturity increased moderately. This de-leveraging effect is...

We study the impact of the COVID-19 recession on capital structure of publicly listed U.S. firms. Our estimates suggest leverage (Net Debt/Asset) decreased by 5.3 percentage points from the pre-shock mean of 19.6 percent, while debt maturity increased moderately. This de-leveraging effect is...

The financial crisis of 2008, and the associated bear market lasting from October 2007 to March 2009, has had a significant impact on a broad cross section of firms in the global economy. Of particular interest to us in this study is the effect of this time period on the financial...

Over the past thirty years, a number of social entrepreneurs have managed to create fairly large social enterprises. Properly run and scaled, they can generate sufficient cash flow to support debt financing at manageable levels of risk and, depending on their business model and legal form, also...

Most of the previous studies on the firms' debt-equity choice utilize the standard single equation Probit (or logit) model as if firms face a single dichotomous decision to issue debt or equity, but not both. In this study, we examine the factors affecting the choice between internal and...

I document that publicly-listed firms which are intensive in innovation (intangible capital formation) are less able to engage in volatile external financing flows. The effect is primarily due to debt financing; equity financing acts as a partial substitute. Then, I develop a business cycle...