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Agency cost of debt overhang with optimal investment timing and size

Author

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  • Michi Nishihara
  • Sudipto Sarkar
  • Chuanqian Zhang

Abstract

The concept of debt overhang (that is, an equity‐maximizing levered firm will under‐invest relative to a firm‐value‐maximizing firm) is well established in the literature. A number of papers have demonstrated it as delayed investment (when investment size is specified) or smaller investment (when investment time is specified). However, there is no work on the underinvestment effect when the firm chooses both size and timing of investment, as it usually does in real life. This is what our paper focuses on. When the firm has the flexibility to choose both size and time, the effect is complicated by the fact that delayed investment results in larger investment, which suggests that the underinvestment problem might be mitigated. We find, however, that the effect depends on how underinvestment is measured. When measured by the expected present value of investment, flexibility can mitigate or exacerbate the underinvestment problem, depending on the cost of installing capacity. But when measured by the agency cost, flexibility always exacerbates the underinvestment problem. It is shown numerically that, at the optimal leverage ratio, the agency cost with plausible parameter values can be economically significant. Thus, with the flexibility of choosing both time and size of investment, the debt overhang problem can be of significant practical relevance in corporate investment decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Michi Nishihara & Sudipto Sarkar & Chuanqian Zhang, 2019. "Agency cost of debt overhang with optimal investment timing and size," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5-6), pages 784-809, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jbfnac:v:46:y:2019:i:5-6:p:784-809
    DOI: 10.1111/jbfa.12379
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    Cited by:

    1. Yang, Bo & Gan, Liu & Wen, Chunhui, 2021. "Moral hazard, debt overhang and capital structure," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    2. Koussis, Nicos & Silaghi, Florina, 2023. "Revenue-sharing and volume flexibility in the supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    3. Guthrie, Graeme, 2024. "Farm debt and the over-exploitation of natural capital," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    4. Jeon, Haejun & Cui, Xue & Zhang, Chuanqian, 2023. "The effects of labor choice on investment and output dynamics," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Sarkar, Sudipto, 2021. "The uncertainty-investment relationship with endogenous capacity," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    6. Feng Liu & Yingshuang Tan & Sudipto Sarkar & Xueqing Zhang & Xingjun Huang, 2023. "When to invest in electric vehicles under dual credit policy: A real options approach," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(4), pages 2186-2198, June.
    7. Sarkar, Sudipto, 2023. "Optimal restrictiveness of a financing covenant," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    8. Marco Botta & Luca Vittorio Angelo Colombo, 2022. "Non‐linear capital structure dynamics," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(9-10), pages 1897-1928, October.
    9. Sarkar, Sudipto & Zhang, Chuanqian, 2020. "Investment and financing decisions with learning-curve technology," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).

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