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Of interest? Estimating the average interest rate on debt across firms and over time

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  • Richard Fabling

    (Independent Researcher)

Abstract

We use tax data from the Longitudinal Business Database to estimate the firm-level average interest rate on liabilities. The mean of this measure has similar time series properties to official statistics on the business borrowing rate, while also enabling detailed disaggregation across different firm types. We document significant variation in interest rate across firms in different industries, and across firms with different apparent borrowing risk. Finally, we compare firms self-reported views on whether they are finance-constrained to an estimated firm-specific interest rate premium, showing that: finance-constrained firms have higher interest rate premia than unconstrained firms; and that at least part of this difference in premia is explained by firm-level differences in risk between constrained and unconstrained firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Fabling, 2021. "Of interest? Estimating the average interest rate on debt across firms and over time," Motu Working Papers 21_05, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:mtu:wpaper:21_05
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fabling, Arthur & Kneller, Richard & Sanderson, Lynda, 2015. "The impact of tax changes on the short-run investment behaviour of New Zealand firms," Motu Working Papers 290596, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    2. Fabling, Richard & Mare, David C., 2019. "Improved productivity measurement in New Zealand's Longitudinal Business Database," Motu Working Papers 290393, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    3. Stephen Bond & Julie Ann Elston & Jacques Mairesse & Benoît Mulkay, 2003. "Financial Factors and Investment in Belgium, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom: A Comparison Using Company Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(1), pages 153-165, February.
    4. Fabling, Richard & Mare, David C, 2015. "Addressing the absence of hours information in linked employer-employee data," Motu Working Papers 290583, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    5. Fabling, Richard & Mare, David C, 2015. "Production function estimation using New Zealand’s Longitudinal Business Database," Motu Working Papers 290585, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    6. Steven M. Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 1988. "Financing Constraints and Corporate Investment," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(1), pages 141-206.
    7. Fabling, Richard, 2011. "Keeping it Together: Tracking Firms in New Zealand’s Longitudinal Business Database," Motu Working Papers 291440, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    8. Richard Fabling & Lynda Sanderson, 2016. "A Rough Guide to New Zealand's Longitudinal Business Database (2nd edition)," Motu Working Papers 16_03, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    9. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
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    Cited by:

    1. Richard Fabling, 2026. "Auckland firm performance in Covid-19 lockdown," Motu Working Papers 26_03, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • M21 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics - - - Business Economics

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