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Capital Constraints and Risk Shifting: An Instrumental Approach

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Abstract

When firms approach distress, whether they engage in asset substitution (risk shifting) or rebuild equity (risk management) may depend on their access to capital markets. The property-casualty insurance industry has two features that make it ideal for testing this hypothesis: (1) the main losses for insurers are exogenous events like hurricanes that provide a strong instrument for financial distress; and (2) many insurers are organized as mutual companies, which cannot issue stock. Consistent with the importance of capital constraints, stock companies issue new equity following a negative shock, while mutual companies increase the riskiness of their investment portfolios.

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  • Alejandro Drexler & Thomas B. King, 2021. "Capital Constraints and Risk Shifting: An Instrumental Approach," Working Paper Series WP-2021-13, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedhwp:93018
    DOI: 10.21033/wp-2021-13
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Risk shifting; insurance; reinsurance; capital structure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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