nep-cfn New Economics Papers
on Corporate Finance
Issue of 2025–11–03
four papers chosen by
Zelia Serrasqueiro, Universidade da Beira Interior


  1. Working it out: Randomized Modification and Entrepreneurial Effort in a Collateralized Debt Market By Christopher Eaglin; Apoorv Gupta; Filippo Mezzanotti; Jonathan Zinman
  2. A profile of corporate exits and insolvencies By Amélie Lafrance-Cooke; Alex McDougall
  3. Sustainable Human Capital Management, ESG, and Firm Performance: Moderating Role of ESG Disclosure By Stela Jorgji; Jonida Teta; Saeed Mousa; Vadim Ponkratov; Izabella Elyakova; Larisa Vatutina; Andrey Pozdnyaev; Tatiana Chernysheva; Elena Romanenko; Mikhail Kosov
  4. A Loan You Can’t Refuse: Credit Rationing and Organized Crime Infiltration of Distressed Firms By Gianmarco Daniele; Marco De Simoni; Domenico J. Marchetti; Giovanna Marcolongo; Paolo Pinotti

  1. By: Christopher Eaglin; Apoorv Gupta; Filippo Mezzanotti; Jonathan Zinman
    Abstract: We enrich a standard debt overhang model with liquidity constraints to guide the design and interpretation of a collateralized debt modification experiment on a publicly traded lender’s delinquent vehicle loans to minibus entrepreneurs. Liquidity constraints add another borrower incentive compatibility constraint that interacts with debt overhang to shape repayment and effort. Consistent with model predictions, we find: debt reduction does not affect liquidity constrained borrowers; payment reduction improves both repayment and effort for borrowers with sufficient vehicle equity; payment reduction induces repayment without effort increases for low-equity borrowers. These results suggest a pecking order strategy for modification practice and policy.
    JEL: G23 G31 O16
    Date: 2025–10
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34398
  2. By: Amélie Lafrance-Cooke; Alex McDougall
    Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial impact on business dynamics, leading to the temporary or permanent closure of many businesses. By contrast, corporate insolvency proposals and bankruptcies under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act declined in 2020. Using a newly developed linked database, this paper presents trends in exits, insolvency proposals and bankruptcies across business and financial characteristics among corporations from 2004 to 2020. Contrasting differences are found between exits and bankruptcies across firm sizes, industries, and provinces and territories. Small firms are more likely to exit than larger firms, while bankruptcy rates are lower among small firms compared with large firms. There are important differences across industries, with businesses in manufacturing having some of the lowest exit rates but relatively high bankruptcy rates. At the provincial and territorial levels, there is little variation in exit rates, but Quebec stands out for having low exit rates and the highest bankruptcy rates. In terms of financial characteristics, bankrupt businesses tend to have low levels of labour productivity, profitability and liquidity, and high levels of leverage. The results are similar for businesses that exit but far less pronounced, likely indicative of exits occurring for reasons other than business failure or financial distress. The results also suggest that bankrupt businesses became more vulnerable over time in terms of their financial ratios the year preceding bankruptcy.
    Keywords: business dynamics, business failure
    JEL: J23 M21
    Date: 2023–10–25
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp8e:202301000005e
  3. By: Stela Jorgji (University of Tirana); Jonida Teta (University of Tirana); Saeed Mousa (ESC [Rennes] - ESC Rennes School of Business); Vadim Ponkratov; Izabella Elyakova; Larisa Vatutina; Andrey Pozdnyaev; Tatiana Chernysheva (MSU - Lomonosov Moscow State University = Université d'État Lomonossov de Moscou [Moscou]); Elena Romanenko; Mikhail Kosov (PRUE - Plekhanov Russian University of Economics [Moscow])
    Abstract: This study investigates the relationships between sustainable human capital management practices, ESG performance, ESG disclosure, and firm financial performance. Using a sample of 387 S&P 500 firms from 2013 to 2023 and a panel data regression approach, we examine the impact of training expenditure, workforce diversity and inclusion, pay equity, and employee benefits on ESG performance. We also explore the association between ESG performance and ESG disclosure, the effect of ESG performance on financial performance, and the moderating role of ESG disclosure in the ESG-financial performance relationship. Our findings reveal that sustainable human capital management practices have a positive and significant impact on ESG performance, which in turn positively influences firm financial performance. We also find a positive relationship between ESG performance and ESG disclosure, and that ESG disclosure moderates the ESG-financial performance link, with the positive association being stronger for firms with higher levels of ESG disclosure. This study contributes to the literature by offering an integrated approach to examine the relationships between sustainable human capital management, ESG performance, ESG disclosure, and financial performance, providing novel insights into the drivers and outcomes of corporate sustainability in the context of human capital management.
    Keywords: Sustainability, Effects of Globalization, Firm Financial Performance, ESG Disclosure, ESG Performance, Sustainable Human Capital Management
    Date: 2024–06–01
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05271946
  4. By: Gianmarco Daniele; Marco De Simoni; Domenico J. Marchetti; Giovanna Marcolongo; Paolo Pinotti
    Abstract: We show that credit constraints significantly increase the risk that firms are infiltrated by organized crime, defined as the covert involvement of criminal organizations in corporate decision-making. Using confidential data on criminal investigations, credit ratings, and loan histories for the universe of Italian firms, we find that a downgrade to substandard credit status reduces credit availability by 30% over five years and increases the probability of infiltration by 5%, relative to comparable firms. A local randomization design comparing firms just above and below the downgrade threshold confirms this result. The effect is pervasive across sectors and regions, but particularly strong in real estate, where the probability of infiltration rises by 10% following a downgrade. Infiltrated firms also display higher survival rates than other downgraded firms, despite similar declines in employment and revenues. These findings suggest that organized crime can serve as a financial backstop – sustaining non-viable businesses and potentially redirecting their strategies to serve criminal interests.
    Keywords: organized crime, firms, bank credit
    JEL: G32 K42 L25 O17
    Date: 2025
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12219

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