Issuance and Corporate Debt Maturity

How do non-financial firms choose the maturity of new financial obligations? Do they match maturities of new debt to the maturity of new investments? Do they choose maturity to minimize rollover risks? Do they try to exploit the current interest rate and market environment? Is there meaningful variation in maturity management patterns? While there is a long theoretical literature on the average debt maturity structure, empirical researchers continue to try to understand the security issuance patterns that we observe in the data. The RA will collect security issuance, use of proceeds, and CFO/CEO financial experience variables from a variety of sources. The RA will also conduct basic statistical analysis and will design figures and tables to help us understand maturity choices. This project will involve a review of related literature and is suitable for any student who is interested in understanding firms’ financial decisions and some of the financing instruments that are available to them.