Does Change in the Information Environment Affect Financing Choices?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Li, Xu; Lin, Chen; Zhan, Xintong
• 署名单位: University of Hong Kong; Chinese University of Hong Kong
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2018.3096
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 5676-5696
• 关键词: information environment; ANALYST COVERAGE; financing choices

摘要

Using brokerage mergers and closures as natural experiments, we examine how exogenous changes in the information environment affect a firm's financing choice. Our difference-in-differences approach shows that exogenous increases in information asymmetry lead firms to substitute away from equity and public debt toward bank debt. Firms with higher risk tend to substitute equity for bank debt, and firms with lower risk tend to substitute bonds for bank debt. The effect of the change in the information environment on a firm's financing choice is more pronounced for firms with worse information environments, such as those with few initial analysts and younger firms. We demonstrate that the mechanism of the change is through a reduction of the issuance of equity and bonds but with an increase of the issuance of bank loans. Further analysis reveals that such firms tend to reduce long-term borrowing, reduce their issuance of subordinated debt, and increase their revolving credit lines.