Solvency and Liquidity in Distressed Equity Returns
52 Pages Posted: 16 May 2014 Last revised: 25 Aug 2016
Date Written: December 9, 2014
Abstract
I show theoretically and empirically that solvency and liquidity can help rationalize low distressed equity returns. In my model, levered firms facing financing constraints optimally choose liquidity reserves and optimally default when insolvent. I find empirical evidence consistent with the model's predictions: (1) In all solvency levels, the average firm holds enough liquid assets to cover its short-term liabilities; less solvent firms have (2) a higher fraction of their total assets in liquid assets and therefore (3) lower conditional betas and (4) lower returns; (5) the profits of strategies are concentrated among low liquidity firms; and (6) the profits of liquidity strategies are concentrated among low solvency firms. My results suggest that solvency and liquidity are essential to understanding the distress puzzle.
Keywords: Distress risk, equity returns, cash holdings, insolvency, illiquidity
JEL Classification: G12, G32, G33, G35
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Paper statistics
Recommended Papers
-
The Determinants and Implications of Corporate Cash Holdings
By Tim C. Opler, Lee Pinkowitz, ...
-
The Cash Flow Sensitivity of Cash
By Heitor Almeida, Murillo Campello, ...
-
Why Do U.S. Firms Hold so Much More Cash than They Used to?
By Thomas W. Bates, Kathleen M. Kahle, ...
-
Why Do U.S. Firms Hold so Much More Cash than They Used to?
By Thomas W. Bates, Kathleen M. Kahle, ...
-
Bank Lines of Credit in Corporate Finance: An Empirical Analysis
By Amir Sufi
-
Corporate Governance and Firm Cash Holdings
By Jarrad Harford, Sattar Mansi, ...
-
Corporate Financial Policy and the Value of Cash
By Michael W. Faulkender and Rong Wang
-
Is Cash Negative Debt? A Hedging Perspective on Corporate Financial Policies
By Heitor Almeida, Viral V. Acharya, ...