IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jbfnac/v49y2022i3-4p461-490.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What's my style? Supply‐side determinants of debt covenant inclusion

Author

Listed:
  • Zhiming Ma
  • Derrald Stice
  • Christopher Williams

Abstract

We examine the supply‐side determinants of debt covenants included in loan agreements. Controlling for borrower characteristics, we find evidence that the covenants that lead arranger banks include in new contracts persist into future contracts for at least 3 years. We document that this covenant style effect is smaller when borrowers have recently violated a debt covenant or when the loan issue amount is large, and it is larger when the costs of contracting are highest and when a borrower provides collateral. We also find that the covenant style effect decreases following changes in a bank's CEO or CFO. Overall, our evidence is consistent with lenders’ covenant preferences arising from strategic cost‐benefit analysis informed from prior lending experiences and being related to lender expertise in negotiating, monitoring and enforcing covenants.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhiming Ma & Derrald Stice & Christopher Williams, 2022. "What's my style? Supply‐side determinants of debt covenant inclusion," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3-4), pages 461-490, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jbfnac:v:49:y:2022:i:3-4:p:461-490
    DOI: 10.1111/jbfa.12588
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jbfa.12588
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jbfa.12588?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Ningzhong & Vasvari, Florin P. & Wittenberg-Moerman, Regina, 2016. "Dynamic threshold values in earnings-based covenants," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 605-629.
    2. Graham, John R. & Li, Si & Qiu, Jiaping, 2008. "Corporate misreporting and bank loan contracting," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 44-61, July.
    3. Roberts, Michael R., 2015. "The role of dynamic renegotiation and asymmetric information in financial contracting," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 61-81.
    4. Valeri V. Nikolaev, 2010. "Debt Covenants and Accounting Conservatism," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 137-176, March.
    5. Samuel B. Bonsall IV & Eric R. Holzman & Brian P. Miller, 2017. "Managerial Ability and Credit Risk Assessment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(5), pages 1425-1449, May.
    6. Demerjian, Peter R. & Owens, Edward L., 2016. "Measuring the probability of financial covenant violation in private debt contracts," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 433-447.
    7. Demerjian, Peter R., 2011. "Accounting standards and debt covenants: Has the “balance sheet approach” led to a decline in the use of balance sheet covenants?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 178-202.
    8. Antonio Falato & Nellie Liang, 2016. "Do Creditor Rights Increase Employment Risk? Evidence from Loan Covenants," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(6), pages 2545-2590, December.
    9. Prilmeier, Robert, 2017. "Why do loans contain covenants? Evidence from lending relationships," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(3), pages 558-579.
    10. El-Gazzar, Samir & Pastena, Victor, 1990. "Negotiated accounting rules in private financial contracts," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 381-396, March.
    11. Michael Minnis & Andrew Sutherland, 2017. "Financial Statements as Monitoring Mechanisms: Evidence from Small Commercial Loans," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 197-233, March.
    12. Justin Murfin, 2012. "The Supply-Side Determinants of Loan Contract Strictness," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(5), pages 1565-1601, October.
    13. Andrew Hertzberg & Jose Maria Liberti & Daniel Paravisini, 2010. "Information and Incentives Inside the Firm: Evidence from Loan Officer Rotation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 795-828, June.
    14. Daniel Ferreira & Miguel A. Ferreira & Beatriz Mariano, 2018. "Creditor Control Rights and Board Independence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(5), pages 2385-2423, October.
    15. Shawn Cole & Martin Kanz & Leora Klapper, 2015. "Incentivizing Calculated Risk-Taking: Evidence from an Experiment with Commercial Bank Loan Officers," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(2), pages 537-575, April.
    16. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    17. Chen, Peter F. & He, Shaohua & Ma, Zhiming & Stice, Derrald, 2016. "The information role of audit opinions in debt contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 121-144.
    18. Bharath, Sreedhar & Dahiya, Sandeep & Saunders, Anthony & Srinivasan, Anand, 2007. "So what do I get? The bank's view of lending relationships," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 368-419, August.
    19. Joshua Coyne & Derrald Stice, 2018. "Do banks care about analysts' forecasts when designing loan contracts?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5-6), pages 625-650, May.
    20. Anna M. Costello & Regina Wittenberg‐Moerman*, 2011. "The Impact of Financial Reporting Quality on Debt Contracting: Evidence from Internal Control Weakness Reports," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 97-136, March.
    21. Bolton, Patrick & Scharfstein, David S, 1996. "Optimal Debt Structure and the Number of Creditors," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(1), pages 1-25, February.
    22. Yihui Wang & Han Xia, 2014. "Do Lenders Still Monitor When They Can Securitize Loans?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(8), pages 2354-2391.
    23. Amir Sufi, 2007. "Information Asymmetry and Financing Arrangements: Evidence from Syndicated Loans," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(2), pages 629-668, April.
    24. Jun (Qj) Qian & Philip E. Strahan & Zhishu Yang, 2015. "The Impact of Incentives and Communication Costs on Information Production and Use: Evidence from Bank Lending," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(4), pages 1457-1493, August.
    25. Hans B. Christensen & Valeri V. Nikolaev, 2012. "Capital Versus Performance Covenants in Debt Contracts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 75-116, March.
    26. Michael Bradley & Michael R. Roberts, 2015. "The Structure and Pricing of Corporate Debt Covenants," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 5(02), pages 1-37.
    27. Michael R. Roberts & Amir Sufi, 2009. "Control Rights and Capital Structure: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(4), pages 1657-1695, August.
    28. Kang, Di & Zhuang, Zhuang, 2019. "Should companies care who their lender is? Evidence from loan covenants," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    29. Jeremy C. Stein, 2002. "Information Production and Capital Allocation: Decentralized versus Hierarchical Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(5), pages 1891-1921, October.
    30. Ferreira, Daniel & Ferreira, Miguel A. & Mariano, Beatriz, 2018. "Creditor control rights and board independence," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 84463, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    31. Cem Demiroglu & Christopher M. James, 2010. "The Information Content of Bank Loan Covenants," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(10), pages 3700-3737, October.
    32. Williamson, Stephen D., 1986. "Costly monitoring, financial intermediation, and equilibrium credit rationing," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 159-179, September.
    33. Raymond Fisman & Daniel Paravisini & Vikrant Vig, 2017. "Cultural Proximity and Loan Outcomes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(2), pages 457-492, February.
    34. Valeri V. Nikolaev, 2010. "Debt Covenants and Accounting Conservatism," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 51-89, March.
    35. Black, Ervin L. & Carnes, Thomas A. & Mosebach, Michael & Moyer, Susan E., 2004. "Regulatory monitoring as a substitute for debt covenants," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 367-391, September.
    36. Samir El†Gazzar & Victor Pastena, 1991. "Factors affecting the scope and initial tightness of covenant restrictions in private lending agreements," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(1), pages 132-151, September.
    37. Greg Nini & David C. Smith & Amir Sufi, 2012. "Creditor Control Rights, Corporate Governance, and Firm Value," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(6), pages 1713-1761.
    38. Zhiming Ma & Derrald Stice & Rencheng Wang, 2019. "Auditor choice and information asymmetry: evidence from international syndicated loans," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(4), pages 365-399, June.
    39. Denis, David J. & Wang, Jing, 2014. "Debt covenant renegotiations and creditor control rights," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(3), pages 348-367.
    40. Beatty, Anne & Ramesh, K. & Weber, Joseph, 2002. "The importance of accounting changes in debt contracts: the cost of flexibility in covenant calculations," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 205-227, June.
    41. Nicolae Garleanu & Jeffrey Zwiebel, 2009. "Design and Renegotiation of Debt Covenants," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 749-781, February.
    42. Samuel B. Bonsall & Brian P. Miller, 2017. "The impact of narrative disclosure readability on bond ratings and the cost of debt," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 608-643, June.
    43. Carolyn M. Callahan & Gary F. Peters & Joseph H. Zhang, 2019. "Debt contract strictness and auditor specialization," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5-6), pages 686-711, May.
    44. Zmijewski, Me, 1984. "Methodological Issues Related To The Estimation Of Financial Distress Prediction Models," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22, pages 59-82.
    45. Douglas W. Diamond, 1984. "Financial Intermediation and Delegated Monitoring," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 51(3), pages 393-414.
    46. Hans B. Christensen & Valeri V. Nikolaev & Regina Wittenberg‐Moerman, 2016. "Accounting Information in Financial Contracting: The Incomplete Contract Theory Perspective," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 397-435, May.
    47. Nini, Greg & Smith, David C. & Sufi, Amir, 2009. "Creditor control rights and firm investment policy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 400-420, June.
    48. Bushman, Robert & Gao, Janet & Martin, Xiumin & Pacelli, Joseph, 2021. "The influence of loan officers on loan contract design and performance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2).
    49. Townsend, Robert M., 1979. "Optimal contracts and competitive markets with costly state verification," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 265-293, October.
    50. Asquith, Paul & Beatty, Anne & Weber, Joseph, 2005. "Performance pricing in bank debt contracts," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1-3), pages 101-128, December.
    51. Derrald Stice, 2018. "The market response to implied debt covenant violations," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(9-10), pages 1195-1223, October.
    52. Steven Drucker & Manju Puri, 2009. "On Loan Sales, Loan Contracting, and Lending Relationships," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(7), pages 2635-2672, July.
    53. Sumit Agarwal, 2010. "Distance and Private Information in Lending," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(7), pages 2757-2788, July.
    54. Sudheer Chava & Michael R. Roberts, 2008. "How Does Financing Impact Investment? The Role of Debt Covenants," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(5), pages 2085-2121, October.
    55. Berger, Philip G. & Minnis, Michael & Sutherland, Andrew, 2017. "Commercial lending concentration and bank expertise: Evidence from borrower financial statements," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 253-277.
    56. Sudheer Chava & Praveen Kumar & Arthur Warga, 2010. "Managerial Agency and Bond Covenants," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 1120-1148, March.
    57. Douglas Gale & Martin Hellwig, 1985. "Incentive-Compatible Debt Contracts: The One-Period Problem," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 52(4), pages 647-663.
    58. Smith, Clifford Jr. & Warner, Jerold B., 1979. "On financial contracting : An analysis of bond covenants," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 117-161, June.
    59. Hollander, Stephan & Verriest, Arnt, 2016. "Bridging the gap: the design of bank loan contracts and distance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(2), pages 399-419.
    60. Ray Ball & Xi Li & Lakshmanan Shivakumar, 2015. "Contractibility and Transparency of Financial Statement Information Prepared Under IFRS: Evidence from Debt Contracts Around IFRS Adoption," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 915-963, December.
    61. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Freudenberg, Felix & Imbierowicz, Björn & Saunders, Anthony & Steffen, Sascha, 2017. "Covenant violations and dynamic loan contracting," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 540-565.
    2. Wang, Jing, 2017. "Debt covenant design and creditor control rights: Evidence from the tightest covenant," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 331-352.
    3. Christensen, Hans B. & Macciocchi, Daniele & Morris, Arthur & Nikolaev, Valeri V., 2022. "Financial shocks to lenders and the composition of financial covenants," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1).
    4. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Guay, Wayne R. & Weber, Joseph P., 2010. "The role of information and financial reporting in corporate governance and debt contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 179-234, December.
    5. Björn Imbierowicz & Daniel Streitz, 2024. "Financial debt contracting and managerial agency problems," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 53(1), pages 99-118, March.
    6. Baylis, Richard M. & Burnap, Peter & Clatworthy, Mark A. & Gad, Mahmoud A. & Pong, Christopher K.M., 2017. "Private lenders’ demand for audit," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 78-97.
    7. Hans B. Christensen & Valeri V. Nikolaev & Regina Wittenberg‐Moerman, 2016. "Accounting Information in Financial Contracting: The Incomplete Contract Theory Perspective," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 397-435, May.
    8. Keil, Jan, 2023. "Lending relationships when creditors are in control," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. Daniel Cohen & Bin Li & Ningzhong Li & Yun Lou, 2022. "Major government customers and loan contract terms," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 275-312, March.
    10. Yun Lou & Clemens A. Otto, 2020. "Debt Heterogeneity and Covenants," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(1), pages 70-92, January.
    11. Saiying Deng & Yutao Li, 2023. "Creditor control rights and borrower protection: the role of borrower consent clause in private debt contracts," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 357-394, July.
    12. Hollander, Stephan & Verriest, Arnt, 2016. "Bridging the gap: the design of bank loan contracts and distance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(2), pages 399-419.
    13. Ambrocio, Gene & Colak, Gonul & Hasan, Iftekhar, 2022. "Commitment or constraint? The effect of loan covenants on merger and acquisition activity," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    14. Chy, Mahfuz & Kyung, Hoyoun, 2023. "The effect of bond market transparency on bank loan contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2).
    15. Brian Akins & David De Angelis & Maclean Gaulin, 2020. "Debt Contracting on Management," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(4), pages 2095-2137, August.
    16. Xu Chong Bo & Wenyi Li & Jing Shi & Yi Zheng & Qing Zhou, 2021. "Relationship lending and bank loan covenant violations," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5847-5878, December.
    17. Kang, Di & Zhuang, Zhuang, 2019. "Should companies care who their lender is? Evidence from loan covenants," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    18. Bushman, Robert & Gao, Janet & Martin, Xiumin & Pacelli, Joseph, 2021. "The influence of loan officers on loan contract design and performance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2).
    19. Shan, Chenyu & Tang, Dragon Yongjun & Winton, Andrew, 2019. "Do banks still monitor when there is a market for credit protection?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2).
    20. Barbara Su, 2023. "Banking practices and borrowing firms’ financial reporting quality: evidence from bank cross-selling," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 201-236, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jbfnac:v:49:y:2022:i:3-4:p:461-490. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0306-686X .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.