We identify a specific channel (debt covenants) and the corresponding mechanism (transfer of control rights) through which financing frictions impact corporate investment. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show that capital investment declines sharply following a financial covenant...

This paper studies Reverse Asset Substitution (RAS), an agency problem in which banks place investment and borrowing restrictions on firms as part of a strategy to extract surplus from the firms over multiple periods. RAS arises for firms that cannot access public debt markets due to agency...

We present a stochastic simulation forecasting model to stress-test banks' capital adequacy and to estimate probability of infringement of regulatory capital ratios and default probability. The stochastic methodology proposed is based on a simplified reduced model that provides a manageable...

While much attention has been focused on the optimal ratio of a firm's debt to equity, the quot;optimalquot; or best balance between bond financing and (longer-term) bank financing has scarcely been addressed. This essay examines the principal differences between an economy with a well-developed...

Using the Emerging Market Debt Crises of the late 1990s, a shock that directly impacted some U.S. banks but not their domestic borrowers, we study the causal impact of lender health on covenant-violating borrowers. Using difference-in-differences, we find that banks exposed to the crises become...

The 2007-2008 financial crisis demonstrated both the responsibilities that central bankers, alongside other actors, bear for turbulences of this kind as well as how economics can be used to provide central bankers and governments with the understanding and tools that they need to prevent the...

Using a continuous time, structural model of a dealer-bank, we derive fair value equations for credit risky financial products that can not be perfectly hedged, fully taking into account the impact the contracts have on the dealer-bank's earnings volatility and, consequently, their solvency and...

We review the literature that examines how product markets and competition interact with corporate finance, and provide some ideas for future research. The main takeaway from more than forty years of research is that product market considerations have first-order effects on our understanding of...

High-yield debt, including leveraged loans, is characterized by incurrence financial covenants, or “cov-lite” provisions. Unlike, traditional, maintenance covenants, incurrence covenants preserve equity control rights but trigger pre-specified restrictions on the borrower’s actions once...

We review the literature on the sources of financing and associated financing frictions facing small firms. Using data from the Survey of Business Owners, we first show that about half of small firms do not report using any external finance either for startup or for expansion. Among those that...