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Creditor Rights and Corporate Risk-taking

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Author Info
Acharya, Viral V
Amihud, Yakov
Litov, Lubomir P.

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Abstract

We propose that stronger creditor rights in bankruptcy reduce corporate risk-taking. Employing country-level data, we find that strong creditor rights are associated with a greater propensity of firms to engage in diversifying mergers, and this propensity changes in response to changes in the country creditor rights. Also, in countries with stronger creditor rights companies’ operating risk is lower, and acquirers with low-recovery assets prefer targets with high-recovery assets. These relationships are strongest in countries where management is dismissed in reorganization, suggesting an agency-cost effect. Our results suggest that there might be a "dark" side to strong creditor rights in that they can induce costly risk avoidance in corporate policies. Thus, stronger creditor rights may not necessarily be optimal.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 6697.

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Date of creation: Feb 2008
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6697

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Related research
Keywords: Bankruptcy; Default; Diversification; Managerial turnover; Recovery;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Investment Policy
G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Capital and Ownership Structure
G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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    Other versions:
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    Other versions:
  4. Stijn Claessens & Leora F. Klapper, 2005. "Bankruptcy around the World: Explanations of Its Relative Use," American Law and Economics Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(1), pages 253-283. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Guilkey, David K. & Murphy, James L., 1993. "Estimation and testing in the random effects probit model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 301-317, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Matthew T. Billett & Tao-Hsien Dolly King & David C. Mauer, 2004. "Bondholder Wealth Effects in Mergers and Acquisitions: New Evidence from the 1980s and 1990s," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(1), pages 107-135, 02. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Rajesh K. Aggarwal & Andrew A. Samwick, 2003. "Why Do Managers Diversify Their Firms? Agency Reconsidered," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(1), pages 71-118, 02. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Gilson, Stuart C., 1989. "Management turnover and financial distress," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 241-262, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Blum, Jurg, 1999. "Do capital adequacy requirements reduce risks in banking?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 755-771, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Sudheer Chava & Michael R. Roberts, 2008. "How Does Financing Impact Investment? The Role of Debt Covenants," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(5), pages 2085-2121, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Söhnke M. Bartram & Gregory Brown & René M. Stulz, 2009. "Why Do Foreign Firms Have Less Idiosyncratic Risk than U.S. Firms?," NBER Working Papers 14931, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Stijn Claessens & Kenichi Ueda, 2008. "Banks and Labor as Stakeholders: Impact on Economic Performance," IMF Working Papers 08/229, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
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