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Secured Credit Spreads

Author

Listed:
  • Efraim Benmelech

    (Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management and NBER)

  • Nitish Kumar

    (University of Florida - Warrington College of Business)

  • Raghuram Rajan

    (University of Chicago - Booth School of Business)

Abstract

Lenders are unwilling to accept lower credit spreads for secured debt relative to unsecured debt when a firm is healthy. However, they accept significantly lower credit spreads for secured debt when a firm’s credit quality deteriorates, the economy slows, or average credit spreads widen. This contingent valuation of collateral or security, coupled with the borrower perceiving a loss of operational and financial flexibility when issuing secured debt, may explain why firms issue secured debt on a contingent basis; they issue more when their credit quality deteriorates, the economy slows, and average credit spreads widen.

Suggested Citation

  • Efraim Benmelech & Nitish Kumar & Raghuram Rajan, 2020. "Secured Credit Spreads," Working Papers 2020-14, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bfi:wpaper:2020-14
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    File URL: https://repec.bfi.uchicago.edu/RePEc/pdfs/BFI_WP_202014.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Campello, Murillo & Connolly, Robert A. & Kankanhalli, Gaurav & Steiner, Eva, 2022. "Do real estate values boost corporate borrowing? Evidence from contract-level data," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(2), pages 611-644.
    2. Efraim Benmelech & Nitish Kumar & Raghuram Rajan, 2024. "The Decline of Secured Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 79(1), pages 35-93, February.
    3. Nicholas Garvin & David W Hughes & José-Luis Peydró, 2021. "The Role of Collateral in Borrowing," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2021-01, Reserve Bank of Australia.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • E51 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Money Supply; Credit; Money Multipliers
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation

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