IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/dyncon/v171y2025ics0165188925000090.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Entrepreneurship and leverage dynamics without commitment

Author

Listed:
  • Bai, Caiquan
  • Feng, Chen
  • Mu, Congming
  • Zhao, Siqi

Abstract

This paper builds a dynamic liquidity management model to examine the interdependent consumption-portfolio choices and debt financing problems when a risk-averse entrepreneur has leverage commitment friction. First, we find that low risk aversion leads to active debt buybacks, providing a novel rationale for the prevalent callable feature through the risk management channel. Second, high risk aversion generates a leverage ratchet effect. The distressed entrepreneur reduces consumption but takes on more risk to gamble for resurrection. To diversify business risk, the borrower accelerates the issuance of risky debt. Finally, we predict that the debt spiral effect (leverage mean reversion) is more likely to occur when the borrower is less (more) risk-averse, debt maturity is longer (shorter), or idiosyncratic risk is smaller (larger).

Suggested Citation

  • Bai, Caiquan & Feng, Chen & Mu, Congming & Zhao, Siqi, 2025. "Entrepreneurship and leverage dynamics without commitment," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:dyncon:v:171:y:2025:i:c:s0165188925000090
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jedc.2025.105043
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165188925000090
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jedc.2025.105043?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hui Chen & Jianjun Miao & Neng Wang, 2010. "Entrepreneurial Finance and Nondiversifiable Risk," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(12), pages 4348-4388, December.
    2. Qiping Xu, 2018. "Kicking Maturity Down the Road: Early Refinancing and Maturity Management in the Corporate Bond Market," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(8), pages 3061-3097.
    3. Whalley, A. Elizabeth, 2011. "Optimal R&D investment for a risk-averse entrepreneur," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 413-429, April.
    4. Anat R. Admati & Peter M. Demarzo & Martin F. Hellwig & Paul Pfleiderer, 2018. "The Leverage Ratchet Effect," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(1), pages 145-198, February.
    5. Goldstein, Robert & Ju, Nengjiu & Leland, Hayne, 2001. "An EBIT-Based Model of Dynamic Capital Structure," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(4), pages 483-512, October.
    6. Douglas W. Diamond & Zhiguo He, 2014. "A Theory of Debt Maturity: The Long and Short of Debt Overhang," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(2), pages 719-762, April.
    7. Zhiguo He & Wei Xiong, 2012. "Rollover Risk and Credit Risk," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(2), pages 391-430, April.
    8. Patrick Bolton & Hui Chen & Neng Wang, 2011. "A Unified Theory of Tobin's q, Corporate Investment, Financing, and Risk Management," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1545-1578, October.
    9. Evans, David S & Jovanovic, Boyan, 1989. "An Estimated Model of Entrepreneurial Choice under Liquidity Constraints," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(4), pages 808-827, August.
    10. Acharya, Viral V. & Almeida, Heitor & Campello, Murillo, 2007. "Is cash negative debt? A hedging perspective on corporate financial policies," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 515-554, October.
    11. Patrick Bolton & Neng Wang & Jinqiang Yang, 2019. "Optimal Contracting, Corporate Finance, and Valuation with Inalienable Human Capital," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 74(3), pages 1363-1429, June.
    12. Fairlie, Robert W, 1999. "The Absence of the African-American Owned Business: An Analysis of the Dynamics of Self-Employment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(1), pages 80-108, January.
    13. Miao, Jianjun & Wang, Neng, 2007. "Investment, consumption, and hedging under incomplete markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 608-642, December.
    14. King, Tao-Hsien Dolly & Mauer, David C, 2000. "Corporate Call Policy for Nonconvertible Bonds," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(3), pages 403-444, July.
    15. Bo Becker & Murillo Campello & Viktor Thell & Dong Yan, 2024. "Credit risk, debt overhang, and the life cycle of callable bonds," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 28(3), pages 945-985.
    16. Leland, Hayne E, 1994. "Corporate Debt Value, Bond Covenants, and Optimal Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1213-1252, September.
    17. Erwan Morellec & Boris Nikolov & Norman Schürhoff, 2012. "Corporate Governance and Capital Structure Dynamics," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(3), pages 803-848, June.
    18. Peter DeMarzo & Zhiguo He & Fabrice Tourre, 2023. "Sovereign Debt Ratchets and Welfare Destruction," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(10), pages 2825-2892.
    19. Merton, Robert C., 1971. "Optimum consumption and portfolio rules in a continuous-time model," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 373-413, December.
    20. Ilya A. Strebulaev, 2007. "Do Tests of Capital Structure Theory Mean What They Say?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(4), pages 1747-1787, August.
    21. Peter M. Demarzo & Zhiguo He, 2021. "Leverage Dynamics without Commitment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(3), pages 1195-1250, June.
    22. Leland, Hayne E & Toft, Klaus Bjerre, 1996. "Optimal Capital Structure, Endogenous Bankruptcy, and the Term Structure of Credit Spreads," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(3), pages 987-1019, July.
    23. Omer Brav, 2009. "Access to Capital, Capital Structure, and the Funding of the Firm," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(1), pages 263-308, February.
    24. Zame, William R, 1993. "Efficiency and the Role of Default When Security Markets Are Incomplete," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(5), pages 1142-1164, December.
    25. Della Seta, Marco & Morellec, Erwan & Zucchi, Francesca, 2020. "Short-term debt and incentives for risk-taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(1), pages 179-203.
    26. Basak, Suleyman & Makarov, Dmitry & Shapiro, Alex & Subrahmanyam, Marti, 2020. "Security design with status concerns," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    27. Thomas Dangl & Josef Zechner, 2021. "Debt Maturity and the Dynamics of Leverage [Rollover risk and market freezes]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(12), pages 5796-5840.
    28. Wang, Chong & Wang, Neng & Yang, Jinqiang, 2012. "A unified model of entrepreneurship dynamics," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 1-23.
    29. Evans, David S & Leighton, Linda S, 1989. "Some Empirical Aspects of Entrepreneurship," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 519-535, June.
    30. Hayne E. Leland., 1998. "Agency Costs, Risk Management, and Capital Structure," Research Program in Finance Working Papers RPF-278, University of California at Berkeley.
    31. Alicia M. Robb & David T. Robinson, 2014. "The Capital Structure Decisions of New Firms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 153-179, January.
    32. Shilin Li & Jinqiang Yang & Siqi Zhao, 2022. "Robust leverage dynamics without commitment," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 74(2), pages 643-679, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bolton, Patrick & Li, Ye & Wang, Neng & Yang, Jinqiang, 2020. "Dynamic Banking and the Value of Deposits," Working Paper Series 2020-13, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    2. Peter M. Demarzo & Zhiguo He, 2021. "Leverage Dynamics without Commitment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(3), pages 1195-1250, June.
    3. Benzoni, Luca & Garlappi, Lorenzo & Goldstein, Robert S. & Ying, Chao, 2022. "Debt dynamics with fixed issuance costs," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 385-402.
    4. Xia, Xin & Gan, Liu, 2021. "Financing with equity-for-guarantee swaps and dynamic investment under incomplete markets," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 349-360.
    5. Hui Chen & Jianjun Miao & Neng Wang, 2010. "Entrepreneurial Finance and Nondiversifiable Risk," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(12), pages 4348-4388, December.
    6. Andrea Gamba & Alessio Saretto, 2023. "Debt Maturity and Commitment on Firm Policies," Working Papers 2303, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    7. Nils Friewald & Florian Nagler & Christian Wagner, 2022. "Debt Refinancing and Equity Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(4), pages 2287-2329, August.
    8. Chen, Hui & Xu, Yu & Yang, Jun, 2021. "Systematic risk, debt maturity, and the term structure of credit spreads," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(3), pages 770-799.
    9. Lin, Chunpeng & Yang, Jinqiang, 2022. "Entrepreneur’s incentives for risk-taking and short-term debt," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    10. Perla, Jesse & Pflueger, Carolin & Szkup, Michal, 2024. "Commitment and investment distortions under limited liability," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    11. Bolton, Patrick & Wang, Neng & Yang, Jinqiang, 2019. "Investment under uncertainty with financial constraints," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    12. Liu Gan & Chong Wang, 2021. "Option‐for‐guarantee swaps and flexible investment opportunities," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 21(4), pages 1286-1301, December.
    13. Zhiguo He & Wei Xiong, 2012. "Rollover Risk and Credit Risk," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(2), pages 391-430, April.
    14. Chen, Chang-Chih & Ho, Kung-Cheng & Yan, Cheng & Yeh, Chung-Ying & Yu, Min-Teh, 2023. "Does ambiguity matter for corporate debt financing? Theory and evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    15. Hugonnier, Julien & Malamud, Semyon & Morellec, Erwan, 2015. "Credit market frictions and capital structure dynamics," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 1130-1158.
    16. Haque, Sharjil & Varghese, Richard, 2023. "Firms’ rollover risk, capital structure and unequal exposure to aggregate shocks," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    17. Shilin Li & Jinqiang Yang & Siqi Zhao, 2022. "Robust leverage dynamics without commitment," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 74(2), pages 643-679, September.
    18. Wang, Chong & Wang, Neng & Yang, Jinqiang, 2012. "A unified model of entrepreneurship dynamics," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 1-23.
    19. Sergio Rebelo & Neng Wang & Jinqiang Yang, 2022. "Rare Disasters, Financial Development, and Sovereign Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(5), pages 2719-2764, October.
    20. Luca Benzoni & Lorenzo Garlappi & Robert S. Goldstein & Julien Hugonnier & Chao Ying, 2020. "Optimal Debt Dynamics, Issuance Costs, and Commitment," Working Paper Series WP-2020-20, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurship; Leverage dynamics; Commitment friction; Incomplete markets;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:dyncon:v:171:y:2025:i:c:s0165188925000090. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jedc .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.