The Journal of Finance publishes leading research across all the major fields of finance. It is one of the most widely cited journals in academic finance, and in all of economics. Each of the six issues per year reaches over 8,000 academics, finance professionals, libraries, and government and financial institutions around the world. The journal is the official publication of The American Finance Association, the premier academic organization devoted to the study and promotion of knowledge about financial economics.
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Over‐the‐Counter Market Frictions and Yield Spread Changes
Published: 06/30/2019 | DOI: 10.1111/jofi.12827
NILS FRIEWALD, FLORIAN NAGLER
We empirically study whether systematic over‐the‐counter (OTC) market frictions drive the large unexplained common factor in yield spread changes. Using transaction data on U.S. corporate bonds, we find that marketwide inventory, search, and bargaining frictions explain 23.4% of the variation in the common component. Systematic OTC frictions thus substantially improve the explanatory power of yield spread changes and account for one‐third of their total explained variation. Search and bargaining frictions combined explain more in the common dynamics of yield spread changes than inventory frictions. Our findings support the implications of leading theories of intermediation frictions in OTC markets.
The Cross‐Section of Credit Risk Premia and Equity Returns
Published: 01/16/2014 | DOI: 10.1111/jofi.12143
NILS FRIEWALD, CHRISTIAN WAGNER, JOSEF ZECHNER
We explore the link between a firm's stock returns and credit risk using a simple insight from structural models following Merton (): risk premia on equity and credit instruments are related because all claims on assets must earn the same compensation per unit of risk. Consistent with theory, we find that firms' stock returns increase with credit risk premia estimated from CDS spreads. Credit risk premia contain information not captured by physical or risk‐neutral default probabilities alone. This sheds new light on the “distress puzzle”—the lack of a positive relation between equity returns and default probabilities—reported in previous studies.
Debt Refinancing and Equity Returns
Published: 05/30/2022 | DOI: 10.1111/jofi.13162
NILS FRIEWALD, FLORIAN NAGLER, CHRISTIAN WAGNER
This paper presents empirical evidence that the maturity structure of financial leverage affects the cross‐section of equity returns. We find that short‐term leverage is associated with a positive premium, whereas long‐term leverage is not. The premium for short‐term compared to long‐term leverage reflects higher exposure of equity to systematic risk. To rationalize our findings, we show that the same patterns emerge in a model of debt rollover risk with endogenous leverage and debt maturity choice. Our results suggest that analyses of leverage effects in asset prices and corporate financial applications should account for the maturity structure of debt.