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What Determines Debt Maturity?

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  • Rodolfo E. Manuelli

Abstract

What determines the maturity structure of debt? In this article, I develop a simple model to explore how the optimal maturity of debt issued by a firm (or a country) depends both on the firm?s cyclical state and other features of the economic environment in which it operates. I find that firms with better current earnings and better growth prospects issue debt with longer maturity, while firms operating in more-volatile environments issue debt with shorter maturity. Yield to maturity is a poor indicator of the risk of debt issued by a firm. The reason is simple: Yield to maturity captures both default risk and a component that is a pseudo term premium. In the model, the market does require a term premium and one appears only because of the risk of default. It is not possible to separate the impact of maturity and risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Rodolfo E. Manuelli, 2019. "What Determines Debt Maturity?," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 101(3), pages 155-176.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedlrv:00119
    DOI: 10.20955/r.101.155-76
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), 2011. "Handbook of Labor Economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 4, number 4.
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    4. Sangmin Aum & Sang Yoon (Tim) Lee & Yongseok Shin, 2017. "Industrial and Occupational Employment Changes During the Great Recession," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 99(4), pages 307-317.
    5. Lee, Sang Yoon (Tim) & Shin, Yongseok, 2017. "Horizontal and Vertical Polarization: Task-Specific Technological Change in a Multi-Sector Economy," CEPR Discussion Papers 12524, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Carl Sanders & Christopher Taber, 2012. "Life-Cycle Wage Growth and Heterogeneous Human Capital," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 399-425, July.
    7. Acemoglu, Daron & Autor, David, 2011. "Skills, Tasks and Technologies: Implications for Employment and Earnings," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 12, pages 1043-1171, Elsevier.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kim, Hwagyun & Mathur, Vipul & Shin, Jong Kook & Subramanian, Chetan, 2023. "Misallocation of debt and aggregate productivity," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General

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