Creditor Control and Product-Market Competition

50 Pages Posted: 7 Aug 2013 Last revised: 3 Jul 2017

See all articles by Matthew T. Billett

Matthew T. Billett

Indiana University - Kelley School of Business - Department of Finance

Burcu Esmer

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School

Miaomiao Yu

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge - E.J. Ourso College of Business Administration

Date Written: May 1, 2017

Abstract

We explore how rival firms respond when firms in their industry violate debt covenants. We find that rival firms increase advertising expense, and that this increase is proportional to the size of industry violators’ pre-existing market share. Rival firm product-market share also increases in the industry market share of violators, and this relation is more pronounced when products are more substitutable. Rival firm operating performance also increases in proportion to the industry market share of violators. Overall, these findings suggest that the increased creditor control associated with covenant violations has a significant influence on rival firms and product-market competition.

Keywords: Debt covenants, Covenant violations, Creditor control, Rivals, Product market competition

JEL Classification: G21, G30, M30

Suggested Citation

Billett, Matthew T. and Esmer, Burcu and Yu, Miaomiao, Creditor Control and Product-Market Competition (May 1, 2017). Journal of Banking and Finance, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2307031 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2307031

Matthew T. Billett (Contact Author)

Indiana University - Kelley School of Business - Department of Finance ( email )

1309 E. 10th St.
Bloomington, IN 47405
United States
812-855-3366 (Phone)

Burcu Esmer

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School ( email )

3641 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6365
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://fnce.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/_whrtn78/

Miaomiao Yu

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge - E.J. Ourso College of Business Administration ( email )

LA 70803-6308
United States

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