Bankruptcy Costs and the Firm's Optimal Debt Capacity: A Positive Theory of Capital Structure

1977 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 1453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne Y. Lee ◽  
Henry H. Barker
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Positive Theory ◽  
Bankruptcy Costs ◽  
Debt Capacity

Valuing firm’s financial flexibility under default risk and bankruptcy costs: a WACC based approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 688-699
Author(s):  
Carlo Mari ◽  
Marcella Marra
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Default Risk ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Debt Management ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Debt Structure ◽  
Financial Flexibility ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Bankruptcy Costs ◽  
Debt Capacity

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a model to value leveraged firms in the presence of default risk and bankruptcy costs under a flexible firm’s debt structure.Design/methodology/approachThe authors assume that the total debt of the firm is a combination of two debt components. The first component is an active debt component which is assumed to be proportional to the firm’s value. The second one is a passive predetermined risk-free debt component. The combination of the two debt categories makes the firm’s capital structure more realistic and allows us to include flexibility into the firm’s debt structure management. The firm’s valuation is performed using the discounted cash flow technique based on the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) method.FindingsThe model can be used to define active debt management strategies that can induce the firm to deviate from its capital structure target in order to preserve debt capacity for future funding needs. The firm’s valuation is performed by using the WACC method and a closed form valuation formula is provided. Such a formula can be used to value costs and benefits of financial flexibility.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed approach provides a good compromise between mathematical complexity and model capability of interpreting the various economic and financial aspects involved in the firm’s debt structure puzzle.Practical implicationsThis model offers a realistic approach to practical applications where real financing decisions are characterized by a simultaneous use of these two debt categories. By comparing costs and benefits deriving from using unused debt capacity for future funding needs, the model provides a quantitative support to investigate if financial flexibility can add value to firms.Originality/valueTo the authors knowledge, the approach the authors propose is the first attempt to build a valuation scheme that accounts for firm’s financial flexibility under default risky debt and bankruptcy costs. Including financial flexibility, this model fills an important gap in the literature on this topic.

A Single Period Stochastic Model for Maximising Firms Value

GIS Business ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 39-45
Author(s):  
J. P. Singh
Keyword(s):  
Capital Market ◽  
Firm Value ◽  
Capital Asset Pricing ◽  
Capital Asset ◽  
Asset Pricing Model ◽  
Value Maximization ◽  
Risk Return ◽  
Bankruptcy Costs ◽  
Single Period ◽  
Debt Capacity

This article sets up a single period value maximization model for the firm based on stochastic end-of-period cash inflows, stochastic bankruptcy costs and taxes based on income rather than wealth. The risk-return trade-off is captured in the Capital Asset Pricing Model. Thus, the model also assumes a perfect capital market and market equilibrium. The model establishes the existence of a unique optimal financial leverage at which the firm value is maximized, this leverage being less than the maximum debt capacity of the firm.

scholarly journals Analysis of Bankruptcy Threat for Risk Management Purposes: A Model Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Monika Wieczorek-Kosmala ◽  
Joanna Błach ◽  
Joanna Trzęsiok
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Liquidity Constraints ◽  
Capacity Constraints ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Risk Map ◽  
Bankruptcy Costs ◽  
Debt Capacity ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Effective Design ◽  
Model Approach

In previous works, the importance of risk management implementation was addressed with regard to the problem of bankruptcy threat, with the explanation of risk impact on higher bankruptcy costs or the underinvestment problem. However, the evaluation of the impact of risk outcomes is technically linked to risk frequency and risk severity as the two dimensions of the risk map. The purpose of our study is to advocate two additional dimensions that incorporate liquidity and/or debt capacity constraint in the aftermath of risk occurrence. In the conceptual dimension, we propose a model that may support the appropriate design of risk management methods, by scaling a company’s ability to self-resist the risk outcomes. The study provides the empirical illustration of the frequency of the distinguished patterns of risk self-resistance. It was found that most frequently companies face the limited ability to self-resist risk outcomes, due to high debt capacity and high liquidity constraints. We also found statistically significant interdependencies between the company’s sector and the risk self-resistance. It supports the conclusion that the level of liquidity and debt capacity constraints and thus the ability to retain risk outcomes is sector-specific. It has important implications for the effective design of risk management methods.

Asset Volatility and Capital Structure: Evidence from Corporate Mergers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Levine ◽  
Youchang Wu
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Coefficient Estimates ◽  
Firm Risk ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Corporate Acquisitions ◽  
Percentage Point Increase ◽  
Point Increase ◽  
Asset Volatility ◽  
Debt Capacity

We exploit cross-sectional variation in the predictable changes in asset volatility following corporate acquisitions to identify the effect of business risk on capital structure. We find that postmerger changes in leverage and cash holdings are strongly predicted by expected asset volatility changes estimated using premerger information. These capital structure adjustments are partly achieved through the choice of payment method. Our findings provide direct evidence for the coinsurance effect of mergers on debt capacity. More broadly, they suggest that firm risk is a first-order determinant of leverage, consistent with the tradeoff theory of capital structure. Our coefficient estimates imply that a one-standard deviation decline in a firm’s asset volatility corresponds to a 7.5-percentage point increase in leverage. This paper was accepted by Renee Adams, finance.

Corporate real estate, capital structure and value creation

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 384-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria-Teresa Bosch-Badia ◽  
Joan Montllor-Serrats ◽  
Anna-Maria Panosa-Gubau ◽  
Maria-Antonia Tarrazon-Rodon
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Capital Structure ◽  
Structure Theory ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Default Option ◽  
Bankruptcy Costs ◽  
Corporate Real Estate ◽  
Tax Savings ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to analyse the corporate rent-vs-buy decision on real estate through the trade-off theory and default option in the framework of a corporation that aims to optimise its capital structure. Design/methodology/approach The methodological core of this paper comprises the trade-off theory that approaches the optimal capital structure by counterbalancing debt tax savings with bankruptcy costs. Impacts on the default option and the default barrier are made explicit. The paper also explores the practical applicability of the renting scenarios in the European context by examining the regimes of real estate investment trusts in different countries from the demand-side of commercial renting. Findings Analytical relationships with tax savings, bankruptcy costs, default option and default barrier are identified for the renting-vs-buying real estate decisions. Research limitations/implications The theoretical model assumes simplifications, such as constant debt, to make it operational. The paper centres exclusively on the trade-off capital structure theory. Practical implications This paper is an analysis of corporate real estate decisions together with capital structure. Applications are not only quantitative but also conceptual and strategic. Originality/value Identifying the main variables that govern the impact of corporate real estate decisions on capital structure and interweaving different approaches generates a conceptual framework that enlightens strategic thinking in this field.

scholarly journals OPTIMAL CAPITAL STRUCTURE WITH SCALE EFFECTS UNDER SPECTRALLY NEGATIVE LÉVY MODELS

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (02) ◽  
pp. 1450013 ◽  
Author(s):  
BUDHI ARTA SURYA ◽  
KAZUTOSHI YAMAZAKI
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Scale Effects ◽  
Scale Function ◽  
Structure Model ◽  
Optimal Capital Structure ◽  
Bankruptcy Costs ◽  
Numerical Studies ◽  
Asset Value ◽  
Optimal Capital ◽  
Tax Benefits

The optimal capital structure model with endogenous bankruptcy was first studied by Leland (1994) and Leland & Toft (1996), and was later extended to the spectrally negative Lévy model by Hilberink Rogers (2002) and Kyprianou Surya (2007). This paper incorporates scale effects by allowing the values of bankruptcy costs and tax benefits to be dependent on the firm's asset value. By using the fluctuation identities for the spectrally negative Lévy process, we obtain a candidate bankruptcy level as well as a sufficient condition for optimality. The optimality holds in particular when, monotonically in the asset value, the value of tax benefits is increasing, the loss amount at bankruptcy is increasing, and its proportion relative to the asset value is decreasing. The solution admits a semi-explicit form in terms of the scale function. A series of numerical studies are given to analyze the impacts of scale effects on the bankruptcy strategy and the optimal capital structure.

scholarly journals Pecking order, earnings management and capital structure

Accounting ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 1389-1394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Novi Swandari Budiarso ◽  
Winston Pontoh
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Agency Problem ◽  
Agency Problems ◽  
Order Theory ◽  
Pecking Order ◽  
Pecking Order Theory ◽  
Corporate Capital Structure ◽  
Debt Capacity

Most of studies imply that firms decrease or increase their debt capacity in context of pecking order theory or agency problems. On this point, the setting of this study is based on two main problems related to capital structure: the first is determining the source of funds for financing investments, and the second is solving the conflict between shareholders and managers, or the agency problem. The objective of this study is to provide evidence about how firms establish their capital structure in relation to pecking order theory and the agency problem by controlling earnings management in the context of Indonesian firms. This study conducts logistic regression on 28 firms in the consumer goods industry listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2017.This study finds that pecking order theory determines the capital structure of most Indonesian firms with high debt. The results imply that agency problems are unable to explain corporate capital structure and earnings management is not effective for motivating Indonesian firms to establish corporate governance.

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