Asset Salability and Debt Maturity: Evidence from Nineteenth-Century American Railroads

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Benmelech, Efraim
• 署名单位: Harvard University
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF FINANCIAL STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0893-9454
• DOI: 10.1093/rfs/hhn036
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 1545
• 关键词: CAPITAL STRUCTURE CHOICE; corporate-debt; determinants; COSTS; bankruptcy; liquidity; investors; finance; FIRMS

摘要

I investigate the effect of assets' liquidation values on capital structure by exploiting the diversity of track gauges in nineteenth-century American railroads. The abundance of track gauges limited the redeployability of rolling stock and tracks to potential users with similar track gauge. Moreover, potential demand for both rolling stock and tracks was further diminished when many railroads went under equity receiverships. I find that the potential demand for a railroad's rolling stock and tracks were significant determinants of debt maturity and the amount of debt that was issued by railroads. The results are consistent with liquidation values models of financial contracting and capital structure.