I exploit the introduction of a segment reporting reform (Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 131 (SFAS 131)) that reveals new financial information of firms' business units. A difference-in-difference estimation reveals that firms reported as single-segment before the reform and as multi-segment after the reform suffer a 10% increase in the yield spreads compared to standalone firms. The treatment effect is concentrated on firms with a high volatility in the growth options and a low coinsurance across segment units at the introduction of SFAS 131. This is consistent with bondholders being aware of a moral hazard problem arising out of inefficient internal capital markets and adjusting the cost of debt accordingly. I show that the agency costs of debt affect the (non-monotonic) relationship between a conglomerate firm's cost of debt and the correlation of its segment cash flows.

Agency Costs of Debt in Good Times / Altieri, Michela. - (2020).

Agency Costs of Debt in Good Times

M. Altieri
2020

Abstract

I exploit the introduction of a segment reporting reform (Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 131 (SFAS 131)) that reveals new financial information of firms' business units. A difference-in-difference estimation reveals that firms reported as single-segment before the reform and as multi-segment after the reform suffer a 10% increase in the yield spreads compared to standalone firms. The treatment effect is concentrated on firms with a high volatility in the growth options and a low coinsurance across segment units at the introduction of SFAS 131. This is consistent with bondholders being aware of a moral hazard problem arising out of inefficient internal capital markets and adjusting the cost of debt accordingly. I show that the agency costs of debt affect the (non-monotonic) relationship between a conglomerate firm's cost of debt and the correlation of its segment cash flows.
2020
Agency Costs of Debt in Good Times / Altieri, Michela. - (2020).
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
agencycosts.pdf

Solo gestori archivio

Tipologia: Documento in Pre-print
Licenza: DRM (Digital rights management) non definiti
Dimensione 384.77 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
384.77 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11385/196895
Citazioni
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact