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Article
Firm location and corporate debt
Journal of Banking and Finance (2012)
  • Matteo P Arena, Marquette University
  • Michaël Dewally
Abstract
This study examines the influence of a firm’s geographical location on corporate debt and provides evidence that the higher cost of collecting information on firms distant from urban areas has significant implications on a wide array of corporate debt characteristics. We find that rural firms face higher debt yield spreads and attract smaller and less prestigious bank syndicates than urban firms. Rural firms attempt to reduce their informational disadvantage by relying more on relationship banking. Our results on the effect of location on corporate debt are robust to the inclusion of an extensive set of firm and issue characteristics.
Keywords
  • Corporate location; Debt underwriting,
  • Cost of debt,
  • Debt maturity,
  • Capital structure
Publication Date
2012
Citation Information
Matteo P Arena and Michaël Dewally. "Firm location and corporate debt" Journal of Banking and Finance Vol. 36 (2012)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/matteo_arena/12/