We test whether the …´firms systematic equity risk reflects the shareholders´ incen-tives to default strategically on its debt. We use a standard real options model torelate the shareholders´strategic default behavior to frictions in the debt renegotia-tion procedure. We test its predictions...

Theory has recently shown that corporate policies should depend on firms' exposure to short- and long-lived cash flow shocks and the correlation between these shocks. We provide granular estimates of these parameters for Compustat firms using a new filter that uses only cash flow data and the...

We argue that the prospect of an imperfect enforcement of debt contracts in default reduces shareholder-debtholder conflicts and induces leveraged firms to invest more and take on less risk as they approach financial distress. To test these predictions, we use a large panel of firms in 41...

We show that the prospect of a debt renegotiation favorable to shareholders reduces the firm's equity risk. The equity beta and return volatility are lower in countries where the bankruptcy code favors debt renegotiations and for firms with more shareholder bargaining power relative to debt...