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Dynamic Adverse Selection and Debt

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  • Chemla, Gilles
  • Faure-Grimaud, Antoine

Abstract

In many long-term relationships, parties may be reluctant to reveal their private information in order to benefit from their informational advantage in the future. We point out that the strategic use of debt by an uninformed party induces another party to reveal private information. Our argument, which is consistent with casual observation, is based on the idea that (renegotiable) debt is a credible commitment to end the long-term relationship if information is not revealed. We show that the strategic advantage of debt increases with good durability and we briefly address the financing decision of a regulated firm.

Suggested Citation

  • Chemla, Gilles & Faure-Grimaud, Antoine, 1998. "Dynamic Adverse Selection and Debt," CEPR Discussion Papers 2037, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:2037
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Murat Usman, 2004. "Optimal Debt Contracts with Renegotiation," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 755-776, December.
    2. Omar Besbes & Dan A. Iancu & Nikolaos Trichakis, 2018. "Dynamic Pricing Under Debt: Spiraling Distortions and Efficiency Losses," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(10), pages 4572-4589, October.
    3. Sofiane Aboura & Emmanuel Lépinette, 2015. "Do banks satisfy the Modigliani-Miller theorem?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(2), pages 924-935.
    4. repec:dau:papers:123456789/13839 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. repec:dau:papers:123456789/6359 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. João Teixeira, 2014. "Outsourcing with debt financing," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 13(1), pages 1-24, April.
    7. Chemla, Gilles, 2004. "Takeovers and the dynamics of information flows," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 575-590, April.
    8. Arping, Stefan & Diaw, Khaled M., 2008. "Sunk costs, entry deterrence, and financial constraints," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 490-501, March.
    9. Usman, Murat, 2008. "Commitment with renegotiable debt contracts and verifiable cash flow," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 249-251, May.
    10. Arping, Stefan, 2005. "Protective interests and creative destruction," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 401-431, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Debt; Durable Good; dynamic adverse selection; financial constraint; Ratchet Effect; Renegotiation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D42 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Monopoly
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation

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