Topic: Two Tales of Debt

Speaker: Yueran Ma

, Assistant Professor of Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Date: December 2, 2020 (Wednesday)

Time: 10:00-11:30

Location: 4-101

Language: English

Abstract:

We analyze the heterogeneous nature of corporate debt contracts, some focusing on liquidation values of discrete assets whereas others on going-concern values of the business. Using hand-collected data on firm attributes, we present several findings. First, firms on average have limited liquidation values. Second, companies with lower liquidation values have more debt backed by going-concern values and more intensive monitoring of firm performance. They have higher interest rates only for debt against discrete assets. Third, secured debt is not always tied to liquidation values of discrete assets. We present a model that matches the empirical findings, which demonstrates how creditor monitoring and covenants facilitate borrowing well beyond liquidation values.

About the speaker:

Yueran Ma is an assistant professor of finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Her main research interest is empirical studies at the intersection of finance and macroeconomics. Her work covers topics including low interest rates and financial markets, debt contracts and macroeconomic implications, non-financial firms and financial frictions, and expectations in finance and macroeconomics. She has also worked on questions in real estate and urban economics. She received B.A. summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in Applied Mathematics in 2014, and Ph.D. in Business Economics in 2018, from Harvard University.