Do Liquidation Values Affect Financial Contracts? Evidence from Commercial Loan Contracts and Zoning Regulation

50 Pages Posted: 20 Jan 2005 Last revised: 28 Jul 2022

See all articles by Efraim Benmelech

Efraim Benmelech

Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Tobias J. Moskowitz

AQR Capital; Yale University, Yale SOM; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Mark J. Garmaise

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Anderson School of Management

Date Written: December 2004

Abstract

We examine the impact of asset liquidation value on debt contracting using a unique set of commercial property non-recourse loan contracts. We employ commercial zoning regulation to capture the flexibility of a property's permitted uses as a measure of an asset's redeployability or value in its next best use. Within a census tract, more redeployable assets receive larger loans with longer maturities and durations, lower interest rates, and fewer creditors, controlling for the current value of the property, its type, and neighborhood. These results are consistent with incomplete contracting and transaction cost theories of liquidation value and financial structure.

Suggested Citation

Benmelech, Efraim and Moskowitz, Tobias J. and Moskowitz, Tobias J. and Garmaise, Mark J., Do Liquidation Values Affect Financial Contracts? Evidence from Commercial Loan Contracts and Zoning Regulation (December 2004). NBER Working Paper No. w11004, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=637501

Efraim Benmelech

Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management ( email )

Evanston, IL 60208
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Tobias J. Moskowitz (Contact Author)

Yale University, Yale SOM ( email )

493 College St
New Haven, CT CT 06520
United States

HOME PAGE: http://som.yale.edu/tobias-j-moskowitz

AQR Capital ( email )

Greenwich, CT
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Mark J. Garmaise

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Anderson School of Management ( email )

110 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1481
United States

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