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Dividend policy and capital structure of a defaultable firm
Author(s) -
Tse Alex S. L.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
mathematical finance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.98
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1467-9965
pISSN - 0960-1627
DOI - 10.1111/mafi.12238
Subject(s) - dividend , dividend policy , economics , equity (law) , capital structure , enterprise value , dividend payout ratio , probability of default , financial economics , equity value , monetary economics , business , econometrics , credit risk , finance , debt , political science , law , debt levels and flows , external debt
Default risk significantly affects the corporate policies of a firm. We develop a model in which a limited liability entity subject to default at an exponential random time jointly sets its dividend policy and capital structure to maximize the expected lifetime utility from consumption of risk‐averse equity investors. We give a complete characterization of the solution to the singular stochastic control problem. The optimal policy involves paying dividends to keep the ratio of firm's equity value to investors' wealth below a critical threshold. Dividend payout acts as a precautionary channel to transfer wealth from the firm to investors for mitigation of losses in the event of default. Higher the default risk, more aggressively the firm leverages and pays dividends.