{"title":"The (un)secured debt puzzle: evidence for U.S. public firms","authors":"Kizkitza Biguri","doi":"10.1007/s10436-024-00457-2","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Collateral availability determines secured debt, while creditworthiness determines unsecured debt. Both are relevant for the debt structure. Regardless of the benefits that pledging collateral may offer, firms substitute away from secured debt as financial constraints relax. An increase in the share of unsecured debt leads to an increase in investment. A higher investment and the preference for unsecured debt can be explained by firms’ desire to minimize financing costs, spreads on unsecured debt are on average lower. This novel evidence complements existing literature on the collateral channel.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45289,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Finance","volume":"21 1","pages":"19 - 44"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10436-024-00457-2.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annals of Finance","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10436-024-00457-2","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"BUSINESS, FINANCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Collateral availability determines secured debt, while creditworthiness determines unsecured debt. Both are relevant for the debt structure. Regardless of the benefits that pledging collateral may offer, firms substitute away from secured debt as financial constraints relax. An increase in the share of unsecured debt leads to an increase in investment. A higher investment and the preference for unsecured debt can be explained by firms’ desire to minimize financing costs, spreads on unsecured debt are on average lower. This novel evidence complements existing literature on the collateral channel.
期刊介绍:
Annals of Finance provides an outlet for original research in all areas of finance and its applications to other disciplines having a clear and substantive link to the general theme of finance. In particular, innovative research papers of moderate length of the highest quality in all scientific areas that are motivated by the analysis of financial problems will be considered. Annals of Finance''s scope encompasses - but is not limited to - the following areas: accounting and finance, asset pricing, banking and finance, capital markets and finance, computational finance, corporate finance, derivatives, dynamical and chaotic systems in finance, economics and finance, empirical finance, experimental finance, finance and the theory of the firm, financial econometrics, financial institutions, mathematical finance, money and finance, portfolio analysis, regulation, stochastic analysis and finance, stock market analysis, systemic risk and financial stability. Annals of Finance also publishes special issues on any topic in finance and its applications of current interest. A small section, entitled finance notes, will be devoted solely to publishing short articles – up to ten pages in length, of substantial interest in finance. Officially cited as: Ann Finance