Publications
Publications
- July 2019
- Journal of Financial Economics
Optimal Capital Structure and Bankruptcy Choice: Dynamic Bargaining vs Liquidation
By: Samuel Antill and Steven R. Grenadier
Abstract
We model a firm’s optimal capital structure decision in a framework in which it may later choose to enter either Chapter 11 reorganization or Chapter 7 liquidation. Creditors anticipate equityholders’ ex-post reorganization incentives and price them into the ex-ante credit spreads. Using a realistic dynamic bargaining model of reorganization, we show that the off-equilibrium threat of costly renegotiation can lead to lower leverage, even with liquidation in equilibrium. If reorganization is less efficient than liquidation, the added option of reorganization can actually make equityholders worse off ex-ante, even when they liquidate on the equilibrium path.
Keywords
Citation
Antill, Samuel, and Steven R. Grenadier. "Optimal Capital Structure and Bankruptcy Choice: Dynamic Bargaining vs Liquidation." Journal of Financial Economics 133, no. 1 (July 2019): 198–224.