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Performance Sensitive Debt - Investment and Financing Incentives

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  • Myklebust, Tor Åge

    (Dept. of Finance and Management Science, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration)

Abstract

Performance sensitive debt (PSD) contracts link the paid coupon to a measure of firm performance. PSD contracts are widely used, especially as corporate bank loans. In a model where a firm has assets in place and the opportunity to invest in a growth option, I analyze how PSD affects equityholders' investment and financing incentives. With no pre-existing debt I show that PSD reduces a given firm's optimal leverage, indicating that in this case PSD partially solves potential future conflicts related to debt overhang. With debt in place I show that PSD financing magnifies equityholders' risk-shifting incentives, proving that in this case PSD is an inefficient financing tool. My conclusion questions the hypothesis that PSD is used to prevent asset substitution. When debt overhang creates problems of underinvestment I show that PSD financing partially resolves these inefficiencies. My conclusions are partially based on numerical analysis, but they are robust to changes in input parameters.

Suggested Citation

  • Myklebust, Tor Åge, 2012. "Performance Sensitive Debt - Investment and Financing Incentives," Discussion Papers 2012/7, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:nhhfms:2012_007
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/11250/164198
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    Cited by:

    1. Sarkar, Sudipto & Zhang, Chuanqian, 2015. "Underinvestment and the design of performance-sensitive debt," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 240-253.
    2. Ming, Lei & Yang, Shenggang & Song, Dandan, 2018. "Valuation and analysis of performance sensitive debt with contingent convertibility," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 98-108.
    3. Liu, Bo & Xia, Xin & Yang, Jinqiang, 2017. "Financing constraints and the use of performance-sensitive debt," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 73-84.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Performance Sensitive Debt; Growth Option; Debt Overhang; Asset Substitution; Underinvestment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General

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