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Structural models of corporate bond pricing with personal taxes

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  • Qi, Howard
  • Liu, Sheen
  • Wu, Chunchi

Abstract

The structural approach offers an integrated framework to deal with yield spreads and default probability simultaneously. However, structural models perform poorly in predicting corporate bond spreads. It is unclear whether this poor performance is caused by characteristics of individual models, missing factors, or different calibration procedures. This study evaluates the performance of four structural models by incorporating two important factors, personal taxes and the liquidity factor, and calibrating these models to data. To ensure our results are not contingent on the calibration method, we further apply the maximum likelihood estimation method to a large sample of individual bonds. Results consistently show that the ability of structural models to predict spreads improves considerably when personal taxes and liquidity are taken into account. Our findings suggest that the poor performance of standard structural models is more likely due to missing factors than the characteristics of individual models or the calibration procedure.

Suggested Citation

  • Qi, Howard & Liu, Sheen & Wu, Chunchi, 2010. "Structural models of corporate bond pricing with personal taxes," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1700-1718, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:34:y:2010:i:7:p:1700-1718
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    5. Chen, Tsung-Kang & Liao, Hsien-Hsing & Chi, Cheng-Ming, 2014. "The economic consequences of regulatory changes in employee stock options on corporate bond holders: SFAS No.123R and structural credit model perspectives," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 381-394.
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    7. Gemmill, Gordon & Keswani, Aneel, 2011. "Downside risk and the size of credit spreads," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 2021-2036, August.
    8. Chen, Tsung-Kang & Liao, Hsien-Hsing & Chen, Wei-Lun, 2014. "Production efficiency uncertainty and corporate credit risk: Structural form credit model perspectives," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 266-280.
    9. Katarzyna Platt, 2020. "Corporate Bonds And Product Market Competition," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 43(3), pages 615-647, August.
    10. Tsung-Kang Chen & Hsien-Hsing Liao & Hsiao-Chun Huang, 2014. "Macroeconomic risks of supply chain counterparties and corporate bond yield spreads," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 463-481, October.
    11. Barsotti, Flavia & Viva, Luca Del, 2015. "Performance and determinants of the Merton structural model: Evidence from hedging coefficients," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 95-111.
    12. Jankowitsch, Rainer & Nashikkar, Amrut & Subrahmanyam, Marti G., 2011. "Price dispersion in OTC markets: A new measure of liquidity," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 343-357, February.

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