SMEs. Results obtained from a system GMM estimation method show that the leverage ratio is negatively affected by export … intensity. We document that firms with more growth opportunities have a higher leverage, while firms that have more profits …, higher asset tangibility and face higher business risk have lower debt ratios. Our results also show that the implementation …

, substituting for external debt. Financially constrained firms experience a relative increase in leverage following the Law … document a significant overall decrease in leverage after the Law's passage, consistent with the reinvestment hypothesis … financially constrained firms as creditor rights are strengthened. We also document a leverage decline in China's listed firms …

higher financial leverage, which enhances firm value. Furthermore, the positive relation between the UD laws adoption and … financial leverage is more pronounced for firms exposed to higher shareholder litigation risk ex ante or financially constrained … firms. Our evidence is consistent with lower shareholder litigation threats motivating firms to increase financial leverage …

issue debt, decreased propensities to issue equity, and increased leverage levels in the post-SOX period. These results are … sources of financing toward debt and away from equity. We use the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) as a setting to provide …

High leverage can be used to improve a firm's bargaining position with unions. I show that in the U.S. such use of … leverage is concentrated in states without right-to-work (RTW) laws. The use of high leverage by unionized firms in these … presidential and congressional elections. Moreover, I confirm the importance of RTW laws using cash balances instead of leverage …

. By looking at 5,500 issues in the period 2005-2012, we find that the turbulence in the sovereign debt market has been a … due to the negative spillovers from the sovereign debt crisis, while German firms received a discount of 40 basis points …

Traditional capital structure theory predicts that reducing banks' leverage reduces the risk and cost of equity but …

to increase risk. However, since bank assets are risky debt claims, bank equity resembles a subordinated debt. Using this …

relevant to the value of the firm. More specially, the agency theory suggests that debt financing is one of the governance …. Using fixed effects regression method, the study finds that leverage is positively related to firm performance, suggesting … that debt financing now acts as a governance mechanism for Chinese listed firms to enhance their performance …

We use a new international setting to test and strengthen the identification of “target leverage hypothesis” in the … economies and analyze its influences on leverage dynamics. Under-leveraged firms before legalization are more likely to buy back … facilitate firms’ movement towards target leverage, especially for under-leveraged firms. This facilitating effect is stronger …