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Debt and Creative Destruction: Why Could Subsidizing Corporate Debt be Optimal?

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  • Zhiguo He
  • Gregor Matvos

Abstract

We illustrate the welfare benefit of tax subsidies to corporate debt financing. Two firms engage in a socially wasteful competition for survival in a declining industry. Firms differ on two dimensions: exogenous productivity and endogenously chosen amount of debt financing, resulting in a two dimensional war of attrition. Debt financing increases incentives to exit, which, while socially beneficial, is costly for the firm. Therefore the planner can increase welfare by subsidizing debt financing. The duration of industry distress determines the tradeoff between the welfare benefit illustrated in our model and the costs of subsidizing corporate debt from the existing literature. Our theory also sheds light on why the IRS considers "conflict of interest" as one of the key determinants in identifying securities that are qualified for tax-benefits.

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  • Zhiguo He & Gregor Matvos, 2012. "Debt and Creative Destruction: Why Could Subsidizing Corporate Debt be Optimal?," NBER Working Papers 17920, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17920
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    2. Norbäck, Pehr-Johan & Persson, Lars & Tåg, Joacim, 2018. "Does the debt tax shield distort ownership efficiency?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 299-310.
    3. Balter, Anne G. & Huisman, Kuno J.M. & Kort, Peter M., 2022. "Effects of creative destruction on the size and timing of an investment," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    4. Allen, Franklin & Gu, Xian, 2018. "The Interplay between Regulations and Financial Stability," CEPR Discussion Papers 12862, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Franklin Allen & Xian Gu, 2018. "The Interplay between Regulations and Financial Stability," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 53(2), pages 233-248, June.
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    7. Rogers, Robert P., 2013. "Bankruptcy and steel plant shutdowns," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 165-174.
    8. Fischer, Marcel & Jensen, Bjarne Astrup, 2017. "The debt tax shield, economic growth and inequality," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 219, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies

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