IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/ijfiec/v27y2022i4p4575-4598.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Managerial overconfidence and bank loan covenant usage

Author

Listed:
  • Jan P. Voon
  • Chen Lin
  • Yiu. C. Ma

Abstract

This paper examines how managerial overconfidence affects loan covenant usage. We find that creditors significantly use more covenants; increase covenant intensity; use financial (but not general) covenants; use performance‐based and capital‐based covenants and rely on different types of covenants such as debt to cash flow, coverage ratio, net worth, debt to balance sheet and liquidity covenants to curb the default risk emanating from managerial overconfidence. Besides, creditors tighten individual covenants such as debt to cash flow covenant and current ratio covenant in order to alleviate their risk exposure. Covenants that serve to allocate the control rights ex‐post are found to be important in controlling overconfidence risk. Covenant usage is reported to be quantitatively larger in the loan contracts of firms with higher market‐to‐book ratios, reflecting that high growth firms provide the opportunities for overconfident CEOs to invest more intensively. To address endogeneity, we use propensity score matching to mitigate potential endogeneity problem. In addition, we employ the SA Index and WW Index to control for firms' financial constraint. The effects of overconfident CEOs to loan covenant remain significant regardless of the firms' financial conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan P. Voon & Chen Lin & Yiu. C. Ma, 2022. "Managerial overconfidence and bank loan covenant usage," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 4575-4598, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ijfiec:v:27:y:2022:i:4:p:4575-4598
    DOI: 10.1002/ijfe.2388
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.2388
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/ijfe.2388?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anwer S. Ahmed & Scott Duellman, 2013. "Managerial Overconfidence and Accounting Conservatism," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 1-30, March.
    2. Graham, John R. & Li, Si & Qiu, Jiaping, 2008. "Corporate misreporting and bank loan contracting," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 44-61, July.
    3. Ulrike Malmendier & Geoffrey Tate, 2005. "CEO Overconfidence and Corporate Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2661-2700, December.
    4. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2014_003 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Ferris, Stephen P. & Jayaraman, Narayanan & Sabherwal, Sanjiv, 2013. "CEO Overconfidence and International Merger and Acquisition Activity," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(1), pages 137-164, February.
    6. Justin Murfin, 2012. "The Supply-Side Determinants of Loan Contract Strictness," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(5), pages 1565-1601, October.
    7. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    8. Hui Chen, 2010. "Macroeconomic Conditions and the Puzzles of Credit Spreads and Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(6), pages 2171-2212, December.
    9. David Hirshleifer & Angie Low & Siew Hong Teoh, 2012. "Are Overconfident CEOs Better Innovators?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(4), pages 1457-1498, August.
    10. Kim, Jeong-Bon & Li, Yinghua & Zhang, Liandong, 2011. "CFOs versus CEOs: Equity incentives and crashes," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 713-730, September.
    11. Anna M. Costello & Regina Wittenberg‐Moerman*, 2011. "The Impact of Financial Reporting Quality on Debt Contracting: Evidence from Internal Control Weakness Reports," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 97-136, March.
    12. Assaf Eisdorfer, 2008. "Empirical Evidence of Risk Shifting in Financially Distressed Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(2), pages 609-637, April.
    13. Hans B. Christensen & Valeri V. Nikolaev, 2012. "Capital Versus Performance Covenants in Debt Contracts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 75-116, March.
    14. Aktas, Nihat & Louca, Christodoulos & Petmezas, Dimitris, 2019. "CEO overconfidence and the value of corporate cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 85-106.
    15. Toni M. Whited & Guojun Wu, 2006. "Financial Constraints Risk," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 531-559.
    16. Matthew T. Billett & Yiming Qian, 2008. "Are Overconfident CEOs Born or Made? Evidence of Self-Attribution Bias from Frequent Acquirers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(6), pages 1037-1051, June.
    17. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    18. Hans B. Christensen & Valeri V. Nikolaev & Regina Wittenberg‐Moerman, 2016. "Accounting Information in Financial Contracting: The Incomplete Contract Theory Perspective," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 397-435, May.
    19. Paul Hribar & Holly Yang, 2016. "CEO Overconfidence and Management Forecasting," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(1), pages 204-227, March.
    20. Nini, Greg & Smith, David C. & Sufi, Amir, 2009. "Creditor control rights and firm investment policy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 400-420, June.
    21. Ho, Po-Hsin & Huang, Chia-Wei & Lin, Chih-Yung & Yen, Ju-Fang, 2016. "CEO overconfidence and financial crisis: Evidence from bank lending and leverage," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(1), pages 194-209.
    22. Divya Anantharaman & Vivian W. Fang & Guojin Gong, 2014. "Inside Debt and the Design of Corporate Debt Contracts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(5), pages 1260-1280, May.
    23. Sudheer Chava & Michael R. Roberts, 2008. "How Does Financing Impact Investment? The Role of Debt Covenants," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(5), pages 2085-2121, October.
    24. Cem Demiroglu & Christopher M. James, 2010. "The Information Content of Bank Loan Covenants," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(10), pages 3700-3737, October.
    25. Sudheer Chava & Praveen Kumar & Arthur Warga, 2010. "Managerial Agency and Bond Covenants," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 1120-1148, March.
    26. Hasan, Iftekhar & Hoi, Chun Keung (Stan) & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2014. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: The effect of corporate tax avoidance on the cost of bank loans," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 109-130.
    27. Hollander, Stephan & Verriest, Arnt, 2016. "Bridging the gap: the design of bank loan contracts and distance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(2), pages 399-419.
    28. Humphery-Jenner, Mark & Lisic, Ling Lei & Nanda, Vikram & Silveri, Sabatino Dino, 2016. "Executive overconfidence and compensation structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(3), pages 533-558.
    29. Ningzhong Li, 2016. "Performance Measures in Earnings‐Based Financial Covenants in Debt Contracts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 1149-1186, September.
    30. Suman Banerjee & Mark Humphery-Jenner & Vikram Nanda, 2015. "Restraining Overconfident CEOs through Improved Governance: Evidence from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(10), pages 2812-2858.
    31. Michael Bradley & Michael R. Roberts, 2015. "The Structure and Pricing of Corporate Debt Covenants," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 5(02), pages 1-37.
    32. McCarthy, Scott & Oliver, Barry & Song, Sizhe, 2017. "Corporate social responsibility and CEO confidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 280-291.
    33. Paul Brockman & Xiumin Martin & Emre Unlu, 2010. "Executive Compensation and the Maturity Structure of Corporate Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 1123-1161, June.
    34. Huang, Jiekun & Kisgen, Darren J., 2013. "Gender and corporate finance: Are male executives overconfident relative to female executives?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(3), pages 822-839.
    35. Ulrike Malmendier & Geoffrey Tate & Jon Yan, 2011. "Overconfidence and Early‐Life Experiences: The Effect of Managerial Traits on Corporate Financial Policies," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1687-1733, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Zuomin & Dai, Ling, 2023. "The bank loan distribution effect of government spending expansion: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    2. Michael L. McIntyre, 2023. "A characterization of the Lender's position in the context of contractual loan conditions," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(8), pages 1-27, August.

    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. Theophilus Lartey & Albert Danso, 2022. "CEO overconfidence and debt covenant violations," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 45(1), pages 162-199, March.
    2. Zhiming Ma & Derrald Stice & Christopher Williams, 2022. "What's my style? Supply‐side determinants of debt covenant inclusion," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3-4), pages 461-490, March.
    3. Johannes Brunzel, 2021. "Overconfidence and narcissism among the upper echelons: a systematic literature review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 71(3), pages 585-623, July.
    4. Björn Imbierowicz & Daniel Streitz, 2024. "Financial debt contracting and managerial agency problems," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 53(1), pages 99-118, March.
    5. Lin, Chih-Yung & Chen, Yehning & Ho, Po-Hsin & Yen, Ju-Fang, 2020. "CEO overconfidence and bank loan contracting," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    6. Chy, Mahfuz & Kyung, Hoyoun, 2023. "The effect of bond market transparency on bank loan contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2).
    7. Killins, Robert & Ngo, Thanh & Wang, Hongxia, 2021. "Goodwill impairment and CEO overconfidence," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    8. Wang, Jing, 2017. "Debt covenant design and creditor control rights: Evidence from the tightest covenant," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 331-352.
    9. Jie Chen & Woon Sau Leung & Wei Song & Marc Goergen, 2018. "Why female board representation matters: The role of female directors in reducing male CEO overconfidence in corporate decisions," Working Papers 2018-12, Swansea University, School of Management.
    10. Chiu, Wan-Chien & King, Tao-Hsien Dolly & Wang, Chih-Wei, 2021. "Debt maturity dispersion and the cost of bank loans," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    11. Danso, Albert & Lartey, Theophilus & Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph & Adomako, Samuel & Lu, Qinye & Uddin, Moshfique, 2019. "Market sentiment and firm investment decision-making," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    12. Freudenberg, Felix & Imbierowicz, Björn & Saunders, Anthony & Steffen, Sascha, 2017. "Covenant violations and dynamic loan contracting," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 540-565.
    13. Christensen, Hans B. & Macciocchi, Daniele & Morris, Arthur & Nikolaev, Valeri V., 2022. "Financial shocks to lenders and the composition of financial covenants," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1).
    14. Chen, Sheng-Syan & Lin, Chih-Yen & Tsai, Yun-Ching, 2018. "New product strategies and firm performance: CEO optimism," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 37-53.
    15. Tosun, Onur Kemel & El Kalak, Izidin & Hudson, Robert, 2022. "How female directors help firms to attain optimal cash holdings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    16. Lu, Jing & Ho, Keng-Yu & Ho, Po-Hsin & Ko, Kuan-Cheng, 2023. "CEO overconfidence, lottery preference and the cross-section of stock returns," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    17. Malmendier, Ulrike M. & Pezone, Vincenzo & Zheng, Hui, 2020. "Managerial Duties and Managerial Biases," CEPR Discussion Papers 14929, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Yun Lou & Clemens A. Otto, 2020. "Debt Heterogeneity and Covenants," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(1), pages 70-92, January.
    19. Adnan Safi & Xianrong Yi & Salman Wahab & Yingying Chen & Hassan Hassan, 2021. "CEO overconfidence, firm-specific factors, and systemic risk: evidence from China," Risk Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(1), pages 30-47, June.
    20. Peter Demerjian & John Donovan & Melissa F. Lewis‐Western, 2020. "Income Smoothing and the Usefulness of Earnings for Monitoring in Debt Contracting," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(2), pages 857-884, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:ijfiec:v:27:y:2022:i:4:p:4575-4598. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/1076-9307/ .

    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.