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External Governance and Debt Structure

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  • Sreedhar T Bharath
  • Michael Hertzel

Abstract

This paper examines how external governance pressure affects the type of debt that firms issue. Consistent with a governance mechanism substitution effect, we find that an exogenous increase (decrease) in governance pressure from the product (takeover) market has a significant negative (positive) impact on the use of bank (public debt) financing over public debt (bank loan) issuance. Tests using changes in the strictness of loan covenants provide corroborative evidence. These findings are consistent with the notion that firms endogenously substitute governance mechanisms and that demand for creditor governance depends on the relative strength of alternative external governance mechanisms. Received May 18, 2016; editorial decision November 11, 2017 by Editor David Denis.

Suggested Citation

  • Sreedhar T Bharath & Michael Hertzel, 2019. "External Governance and Debt Structure," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(9), pages 3335-3365.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:32:y:2019:i:9:p:3335-3365.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rfs/hhy112
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    Cited by:

    1. Chen, Yangyang & Hasan, Iftekhar & Saffar, Walid & Zolotoy, Leon, 2021. "Executive Equity Risk-Taking Incentives and Firms’ Choice of Debt Structure," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    2. Huang, Guan-Ying & Shen, Carl Hsin-han & Wu, Zhen-Xing, 2023. "Firm-level political risk and debt choice," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Mazumder, Sharif & Rao, Ramesh, 2023. "Social trust and the choice between bank debt and public debt: Evidence from international data," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    4. Ee, Mong Shan & Huang, He, 2024. "Employee mobility constraints and debt choice," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    5. Di Giuli, Alberta & Laux, Paul A., 2022. "The effect of media-linked directors on financing and external governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 103-131.
    6. Jordan Schoenfeld, 2020. "Contracts Between Firms and Shareholders," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 383-427, May.
    7. Ben-Nasr, Hamdi & Boubaker, Sabri & Sassi, Syrine, 2021. "Board reforms and debt choice," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    8. Ersahin, Nuri & Irani, Rustom M. & Le, Hanh, 2021. "Creditor control rights and resource allocation within firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(1), pages 186-208.
    9. Lin, Luca X., 2022. "Taking no chances: Lender concentration and corporate acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    10. Buchanan, Bonnie & Kaya, Caglar, 2024. "Foundation ownership and creditor governance: Evidence from publicly listed companies," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    11. Theodora Bermpei & Antonios Nikolaos Kalyvas & Simon Wolfe, 2024. "Does IRS Monitoring Matter for the Cost of Bank Loans?," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 65(2), pages 153-188, June.
    12. Chen, Ruiyuan (Ryan) & Guedhami, Omrane & Yang, Yang & Zaynutdinova, Gulnara R., 2020. "Corporate governance and cash holdings: Evidence from worldwide board reforms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    13. Cumming, Douglas J. & Nguyen, Giang & Nguyen, My, 2022. "Product market competition, venture capital, and the success of entrepreneurial firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    14. Kabir, Muhammad & Rahman, Dewan & Jamil, Taher, 2024. "Torn between two debt types? The role of managerial ability in a firmʼs choice between bank loans and public debt," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    15. Chen, Yangyang & Saffar, Walid & Shan, Chenyu & Wang, Sarah Qian, 2023. "Credit default swaps and corporate debt structure," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    16. Youliang Yan & Maochuan Wang & Jieji Lai, 2024. "Does corporate digitalization promote labor investment efficiency? Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, December.
    17. Alam, Nurul & Boubaker, Sabri & Chen, Xiaomeng Charlene & Hasan, Mostafa Monzur, 2024. "Brand capital and debt choice," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    18. Nagar, Venky & Schoenfeld, Jordan, 2021. "Shareholder monitoring and discretionary disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1).
    19. Ding, Hui & Liu, Chenguang & Ni, Xiaoran, 2023. "Creditor protection and labor investment efficiency: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PD).
    20. Weston, James & Yimfor, Emmanuel, 2023. "Bank loans and bond prices," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    21. Huang, Heshu & Wang, Caiting & Wang, Liukai & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2023. "Corporate digital transformation and idiosyncratic risk: Based on corporate governance perspective," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).

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