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How does managerial opportunism affect the cost of debt financing?

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  • Ghouma, Hatem

Abstract

Using managerial entrenchment and earnings management activities to proxy for managers’ opportunism, this paper explores the effect of the managers’ behaviour on the cost of debt financing. The study shows that low levels of managerial opportunism result in firms enjoying lower corporate bond costs and higher credit ratings. Moreover, the findings suggest that higher bond costs and lower credit ratings are generally associated with income-increasing earnings management activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Ghouma, Hatem, 2017. "How does managerial opportunism affect the cost of debt financing?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(PA), pages 13-29.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:39:y:2017:i:pa:p:13-29
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2016.07.007
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    3. Azad, A.S.M. Sohel & Chazi, Abdelaziz & Cooper, Peter & Ahsan, Amirul, 2018. "What determines the Japanese corporate credit spread? A new evidence," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 349-356.
    4. Marques, Thiago Avila & de Sousa Ribeiro, Karem Cristina & Barboza, Flavio, 2018. "Corporate governance and debt securities issued in Brazil and India: A multi-case study," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 257-270.
    5. Wencheng Yu & Yikang Zhang & Kun Du & Yanzhou Wu, 2023. "Does the Quality of Director Fusion Raise the Risk of Corporate Debt Default?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, January.
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    7. Ghouma, Hatem H. & Ouni, Zeineb, 2022. "The sovereign wealth funds risk premium: Evidence from the cost of debt financing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    8. Ghouma, Hatem & Ben-Nasr, Hamdi & Yan, Ruiqian, 2018. "Corporate governance and cost of debt financing: Empirical evidence from Canada," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 138-148.
    9. Jamal A. Al‐Khasawneh & Paul Dion & Naceur Essaddam & Tashfeen Hussain, 2023. "Is the cost of equity a mere function of leverage? The case of bond IPOs," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 58-78, January.
    10. Ren, Yi-Shuai & Boubaker, Sabri & Liu, Pei-Zhi & Weber, Olaf, 2023. "How does carbon regulatory policy affect debt financing costs? Empirical evidence from China," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 77-90.
    11. Guo, Hongling & Sun, Yue & Qiu, Xuemei, 2021. "Cross-shareholding network and corporate bond financing cost in China," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    12. Ballester, Laura & González-Urteaga, Ana & Martínez, Beatriz, 2020. "The role of internal corporate governance mechanisms on default risk: A systematic review for different institutional settings," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    13. Faruk Balli & Hassan Ghassan & Essam H. Jeefri, 2021. "Sukuk and bond spreads," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 45(3), pages 529-543, July.
      • Balli, Faruk & Ghassan, Hassan B. & Al-Jefri, Essam H., 2020. "Sukuk and bond spreads," MPRA Paper 106729, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 20 Jan 2021.
    14. Li, Bin & Liang, Yilan & Shahab, Yasir & Gull, Ammar Ali & Ashraf, Naeem, 2022. "Parent-subsidiary dispersion, cost of debt and debt default: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Managerial opportunism; Entrenchment; Earnings management; Debt costs and ratings; Regulation change;
    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
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

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