Journal of Finance Vol. 68 No. 3 2013
Access to Collateral and Corporate Debt Structure: Evidence from a Natural Experiment
Abstract
We investigate how firms respond to strengthening of creditor rights by examining their financial decisions following a securitization reform in India. We find that the reform led to a reduction in secured debt, total debt, debt maturity, and asset growth, and an increase in liquidity hoarding by firms. Moreover, the effects are more pronounced for firms that have a higher proportion of tangible assets because these firms are more affected by the secured transactions law. These results suggest that strengthening of creditor rights introduces a liquidation bias and documents how firms alter their debt structures to contract around it.
- DOI
- 10.1111/jofi.12020
- Volume
- 68
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 881-928
- Language
- en
- Sources
- bibtex:phds-export.bib crossref openalex