IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfinec/v93y2009i3p505-524.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The market for corporate control and the cost of debt

Author

Listed:
  • Qiu, Jiaping
  • Yu, Fan

Abstract

How do bondholders view the existence of an open market for corporate control? Between 1985 and 1991, 30 states in the U.S. enacted business combination (BC) laws, raising the cost of corporate takeovers. Relying on these exogenous events, we estimate the influence of the market for corporate control on the cost of debt. We identify different channels through which an open market for corporate control can benefit or harm bondholders: a reduction in managerial slack or the "quiet life," resulting in higher profitability and firm value; a coinsurance effect, in which firms become less risky after being acquired; and an increasing leverage effect, in which bondholder wealth is expropriated through leverage-increasing takeovers. Consistent with the first two mechanisms, we find that the cost of debt rose after the passage of the BC laws; moreover, it rose sharply for firms in non-competitive industries, and for firms rated speculative-grade. In contrast, there is virtually no effect for firms in competitive industries, or firms rated investment-grade.

Suggested Citation

  • Qiu, Jiaping & Yu, Fan, 2009. "The market for corporate control and the cost of debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3), pages 505-524, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:93:y:2009:i:3:p:505-524
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304-405X(09)00098-1
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jean Helwege & Christopher M. Turner, 1999. "The Slope of the Credit Yield Curve for Speculative‐Grade Issuers," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(5), pages 1869-1884, October.
    2. Comment, Robert & Schwert, G. William, 1995. "Poison or placebo? Evidence on the deterrence and wealth effects of modern antitakeover measures," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 3-43, September.
    3. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2003. "Enjoying the Quiet Life? Corporate Governance and Managerial Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(5), pages 1043-1075, October.
    4. Duffee, Gregory R, 1999. "Estimating the Price of Default Risk," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 12(1), pages 197-226.
    5. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    6. K. J. Martijn Cremers & Vinay B. Nair, 2005. "Governance Mechanisms and Equity Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2859-2894, December.
    7. Armen A. Alchian, 1950. "Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(3), pages 211-211.
    8. Ericsson, Jan & Jacobs, Kris & Oviedo, Rodolfo, 2009. "The Determinants of Credit Default Swap Premia," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(1), pages 109-132, February.
    9. Paul Gompers & Joy Ishii & Andrew Metrick, 2003. "Corporate Governance and Equity Prices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 107-156.
    10. Becht, Marco & Bolton, Patrick & Roell, Ailsa, 2003. "Corporate governance and control," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 1, pages 1-109, Elsevier.
    11. Mitchell A. Petersen, 2009. "Estimating Standard Errors in Finance Panel Data Sets: Comparing Approaches," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 435-480, January.
    12. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    13. Asquith, Paul, 1948- & Wizman, Thierry A., 1990. "Event risk, covenants, and bondholder returns in leveraged buyouts," Working papers WP 3173-90., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    14. Sarig, Oded & Warga, Arthur, 1989. "Bond Price Data and Bond Market Liquidity," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(3), pages 367-378, September.
    15. Yaxuan Qi & John Wald, 2008. "State Laws and Debt Covenants," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(1), pages 179-207, February.
    16. Sudheer Chava & Dmitry Livdan & Amiyatosh Purnanandam, 2009. "Do Shareholder Rights Affect the Cost of Bank Loans?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(8), pages 2973-3004, August.
    17. G. William Schwert, 2000. "Hostility in Takeovers: In the Eyes of the Beholder?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(6), pages 2599-2640, December.
    18. John Y. Campbell & Glen B. Taksler, 2003. "Equity Volatility and Corporate Bond Yields," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(6), pages 2321-2350, December.
    19. Gregor Andrade & Mark Mitchell & Erik Stafford, 2001. "New Evidence and Perspectives on Mergers," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 103-120, Spring.
    20. Gerald T. Garvey & Gordon Hanka, 1999. "Capital Structure and Corporate Control: The Effect of Antitakeover Statutes on Firm Leverage," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 519-546, April.
    21. Zwiebel, Jeffrey, 1996. "Dynamic Capital Structure under Managerial Entrenchment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1197-1215, December.
    22. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    23. K.J. Martijn Cremers & Vinay B. Nair & Chenyang Wei, 2007. "Governance Mechanisms and Bond Prices," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(5), pages 1359-1388, 2007 07.
    24. Warga, Arthur & Welch, Ivo, 1993. "Bondholder Losses in Leveraged Buyouts," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(4), pages 959-982.
    25. Hayong Yun, 2009. "The Choice of Corporate Liquidity and Corporate Governance," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(4), pages 1447-1475, April.
    26. Karpoff, Jonathan M. & Malatesta, Paul H., 1989. "The wealth effects of second-generation state takeover legislation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 291-322, December.
    27. Jensen, Michael C. & Ruback, Richard S., 1983. "The market for corporate control : The scientific evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-4), pages 5-50, April.
    28. Klock, Mark S. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Maxwell, William F., 2005. "Does Corporate Governance Matter to Bondholders?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(4), pages 693-719, December.
    29. Wald, John K. & Long, Michael S., 2007. "The effect of state laws on capital structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 297-319, February.
    30. Edwin J. Elton & Martin J. Gruber & Deepak Agrawal & Christopher Mann, 2001. "Explaining the Rate Spread on Corporate Bonds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(1), pages 247-277, February.
    31. Asquith, Paul & Wizman, Thierry A., 1990. "Event risk, covenants, and bondholder returns in leveraged buyouts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 195-213, September.
    32. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:6:p:2225-2241 is not listed on IDEAS
    33. Brown, Stephen J, et al, 1992. "Survivorship Bias in Performance Studies," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 5(4), pages 553-580.
    34. Long Chen & David A. Lesmond & Jason Wei, 2007. "Corporate Yield Spreads and Bond Liquidity," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(1), pages 119-149, February.
    35. Fama, Eugene F, 1980. "Agency Problems and the Theory of the Firm," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(2), pages 288-307, April.
    36. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:1:p:107-135 is not listed on IDEAS
    37. Lando, David & Skodeberg, Torben M., 2002. "Analyzing rating transitions and rating drift with continuous observations," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(2-3), pages 423-444, March.
    38. Pierre Collin-Dufresn & Robert S. Goldstein & J. Spencer Martin, 2001. "The Determinants of Credit Spread Changes," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(6), pages 2177-2207, December.
    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. Francis, Bill B. & Hasan, Iftekhar & John, Kose & Waisman, Maya, 2010. "The effect of state antitakeover laws on the firm's bondholders," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 127-154, April.
    2. Waisman, Maya, 2013. "Product market competition and the cost of bank loans: Evidence from state antitakeover laws," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 4721-4737.
    3. Hong Li & Yuan Wang, 2016. "How do Corporate Governance Decisions Affect Bondholders?," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 6(03), pages 1-23, September.
    4. John Wald & Sattar Mansi & Anh Nguyen, 2012. "Golden Parachutes, Incentives, and the Cost of Debt," Working Papers 0008, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    5. Sokolyk, Tatyana, 2011. "The effects of antitakeover provisions on acquisition targets," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 612-627, June.
    6. Akdoğu, Evrim & Alp, Aysun, 2016. "Credit risk and governance: Evidence from credit default swap spreads," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 211-217.
    7. John, Kose & Knyazeva, Anzhela & Knyazeva, Diana, 2015. "Governance and Payout Precommitment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 101-117.
    8. Ji, Shuangshuang & Mauer, David C. & Zhang, Yilei, 2020. "Managerial entrenchment and capital structure: The effect of diversification," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    9. Boubakri, Narjess & Ghouma, Hatem, 2010. "Control/ownership structure, creditor rights protection, and the cost of debt financing: International evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 2481-2499, October.
    10. Chang, Ya-Kai & Chou, Robin K. & Huang, Tai-Hsin, 2014. "Corporate governance and the dynamics of capital structure: New evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 374-385.
    11. Matt Glendening & Inder K. Khurana & Wei Wang, 2016. "The market for corporate control and dividend policies: Cross-country evidence from M&A laws," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 47(9), pages 1106-1134, December.
    12. Mansi, Sattar A. & Wald, John K. & Zhang, Andrew (Jianzhong), 2016. "Severance agreements and the cost of debt," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 426-444.
    13. Chen, Dong, 2012. "Classified boards, the cost of debt, and firm performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 3346-3365.
    14. Bhanot, Karan & Mansi, Sattar A. & Wald, John K., 2010. "Takeover risk and the correlation between stocks and bonds," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 381-393, June.
    15. Xavier Giroud & Holger M. Mueller, 2009. "Does Corporate Governance Matter in Competitive Industries?," NBER Working Papers 14877, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Reisel, Natalia, 2014. "On the value of restrictive covenants: Empirical investigation of public bond issues," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 251-268.
    17. King, Tao-Hsien Dolly & Wen, Min-Ming, 2011. "Shareholder governance, bondholder governance, and managerial risk-taking," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 512-531, March.
    18. Schauten, M.B.J. & van Dijk, D.J.C., 2010. "Corporate Governance and the Cost of Debt of Large European Firms," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2010-025-F&A, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    19. Chen, Sheng-Syan & Chen, I-Ju, 2012. "Corporate governance and capital allocations of diversified firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 395-409.
    20. Bradley, Michael & Chen, Dong, 2011. "Corporate governance and the cost of debt: Evidence from director limited liability and indemnification provisions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 83-107, February.

    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:eee:jfinec:v:93:y:2009:i:3:p:505-524. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505576 .

    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.