In my dissertation, I explore the relationship between capital controls and the choice of the maturity structure of external debt in a general equilibrium setup, incorporating explicitly the role of international lenders. I look at specific types of capital controls which take the form of date-specific and maturity-specific reserve requirements on external borrowing. I consider two questions: How is the maturity structure of external debt determined in a world general equilibrium? What are the effects of date- and maturity-specific reserve requirements on the maturity structure of external debt? Can they prevent a bank run? I develop a simple Diamond-Dybvig-type model with three dates. In the low income countries, banks arise endogenously. There are two short-term bonds and one long-term bond offered by the domestic banks to international lenders. First I look at a simple model were international lending is modeled exogenously. I consider explicitly the maturity composition of capital inflows to a domestic economy. I show that the holdings of both short-term bonds are not differentiated according to date. Second, I consider international lending behavior explicitly. The world consists of two large open economies: one with high income and one with low income. The high income countries lend to low income countries. There exist multiple equilibria and some are characterized by relative price indeterminacy. Third, I discuss date-specific and maturity- specific reserve requirements. In my setup reserve requirements play the role of a tax and the role of providing liquidity for each bond at different dates. I show that they reduce the scope of indeterminacy. In some equilibria, I identify a case in which the reserve requirement rate on the long-term debt must be higher than that on the short-term debt for a tilt towards a longer maturity structure. Fourth, I introduce the possibility of an unexpected bank run. I show that some specific combination of date-and maturity-specific reserve requirements reduce the vulnerability to bank runs. With regard to the post-bank-run role of international lenders, I show that international lenders may still want to provide new short-term lending to the bank after the occurrence of a bank run.

What is the optimal interaction between macroprudential and fiscal policy to foster financial stability? This thesis evaluates whether policy interaction can impact private debt growth. First, a model is built with borrowing constraints that illustrate the links between private and public debt dynamics. The derived hypothesis and theoretical predictions indicate that a tighter macroprudential stance is reinforced by prudential fiscal policies, conditional on the initial level of public debt and scope for countercyclical fiscal policies. Second, the hypothesis is tested by using a dynamic panel data model for a sample of 49 advanced and emerging economies over the period 2000-2013. Whilst the interaction term alone yields insignificant results, interesting inferences can be drawn of the findings within the context of existing literature. The suggestion is that there may exist two opposing effects associated with the interaction between macroprudential and fiscal policy on private debt. Moreover the outcome of this interaction is contingent upon the levels of public debt and private indebtedness.

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Efter det senaste decenniets våg av ökade regulatoriska krav på banker har kreditfonder vuxit fram som ett alternativ till bank- och kapitalmarknadsfinansiering för fastighetsbolag. Fenomenet är förhållandevis nytt i Sverige, med bara en kreditfond som har ett uttalat fokus på seniora säkerställda fastighetskrediter. Med ett sekventiellt blandat tillvägagångssätt tar denna studie sikte på att öka förståelsen för utbudet och efterfrågan av fastighetsfinansiering som tillhandahålls av kreditfonder. Den kvantitativa studien utgörs av en enkätundersökning med svar från 40 svenska fastighetsbolag om deras uppfattning om kreditfonder i jämförelse med banker och kapitalmarknaden. Den kvalitativa studien består av semistrukturerade intervjuer med: (1) fastighetsbolag av olika storlek utvalda från enkätundersökningen, (2) en av Sveriges största investerare i en fastighetskreditfond för att öka förståelsen för utbudet av kreditfonder, och (3) Finansinspektionen i syfte att fånga deras syn på kreditfonder som finansieringsalternativ, och dess påverkan på finansiell stabilitet. Studien tar avstamp i ekonomisk teori, däribland pecking order, stordriftsfördelar och inträdesbarriärer. Studien visar att svenska fastighetsbolag anser att kreditfondsfinansiering ofta är dyrare än likvärdig finansiering hos banker. Fastighetsbolagen är dock överens om att kreditfonder kan erbjuda längre löptider än både banker och kapitalmarknad. Längre löptider visar sig dock inte vara en drivande faktor för ökad efterfrågan på kreditfondsfinansiering. De löptider som erbjuds av banker och kapitalmarknaden är för de flesta fastighetsbolag tillräckliga. Investerare tycker att avkastningen som kreditfonder genererar gör dem till ett attraktivt finansieringsalternativ, men pekar på ovisshet kring i vilket fack kreditfonder passar in i en investerares investeringsportfölj. Detta pekas ut som en anledning till att investerarbasen inte är bredare. Finansinspektionen ser positivt på kreditfonder som alternativ finansiär till banker och kapitalmarknaden. Risken sprids över fler aktörer, vilket är positivt från ett stabilitetsperspektiv. Sammanfattningsvis indikerar studien att den svenska bank- och kapitalmarknaden har konkurrenskraftiga villkor och att kreditfonder bör justera sina prisnivåer, finansieringsvillkor och rapporteringskrav för att efterfrågan på deras produkt ska bli starkare. I annat fall kommer kreditfonder förbli en finansieringsform som fastighetsbolag använder i brist på andra alternativ. / Credit funds (also referred to as private debt funds) for commercial real estate financing have become increasingly popular as an alternative to banks and the capital markets. Following a wave of increased regulation increasing banks’ capital requirements, credit funds are set up to compete with banks for commercial real estate lending. The phenomenon is still rather small in Sweden, with only one large credit fund targeting senior secured commercial real estate financing. With a sequential mixed method approach, this study aims to increase the understanding of the demand and supply of commercial real estate debt provided by credit funds. The quantitative part involves surveying 40 Swedish commercial real estate companies about their perception of credit funds compared to banks and the capital markets. The qualitative part consists of semi-structured interviews with: (1) commercial real estate companies of different size selected from the survey sample, (2) one of Sweden’s largest credit fund investors, to increase the understanding on the supply of credit funds, and (3) The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (SFSA) (sv. Finansinspektionen) to capture their view on credit funds as an asset class, and its implications on financial stability. The study discusses economic theory, e.g., pecking order, economies of scale and entry barriers. The study shows that the Swedish commercial real estate companies find credit fund financing more expensive than bank financing in most cases. They all agree that credit funds offer longer maturities than both banks and the capital markets. However, it turns out that longer maturities are not necessarily a driver of the demand for credit fund financing. Maturities offered by banks and capital markets are regarded as sufficient by most commercial real estate companies. Investors find the returns and volumes provided by real estate credit funds attractive, but points at uncertainties regarding where credit funds fit in an institutional investors’ portfolio. This might be the reason the investor base is not larger. SFSA looks favourably at credit funds entering the market for real estate financing. It spreads the risk over more actors, which is positive from a financial stability standpoint. All in all, the study indicates that the Swedish banking system and the Swedish capital markets offer competitive financing terms, and that credit funds will have to adjust their prices, financing terms, and reporting requirements for the demand for credit fund financing to increase. Otherwise, they will remain a form of financing real estate companies use in absence of other alternatives.

Despite its prominent role in firms' external financing, debt is highly underrepresented in the academic literature, compared to equity financing (Cumming, 2016). This thesis investigates corporate debt under diverse bankruptcy regulation in Europe (Chapter 1), as well as benefits arising from debt renegotiation among US firms (Chapter 2 and 3). The first study examines whether corporate borrowing responds to the strength of creditor rights, which differ greatly across countries. We use a difference-in-differences (DiD) methodology around an EU-wide bankruptcy reform in 2002 as an exogenous shock that reshaped the institutional environment for corporate debtors and their creditors in Europe. Our findings suggest that subsidiaries in the EU decrease their leverage when they are exposed to less creditor-friendly regimes after 2002, while there is hardly any impact on leverage when shifting to an equally creditor-friendly regime, and even less so when shifting to a more creditor-friendly one. We conclude that the legal environment under which credit is granted matters for firms' access to finance. The following two studies take a closer look into the bank-firm relationship during which renegotiations of existing loans are frequently observed. While the area of private debt renegotiation (among healthy firms) is not very well researched so far, this is the first study to link between loan renegotiation and firms' credit rating (Chapter 2) and firms' adjustments toward capital structure targets (Chapter 3). Firms' credit rating is important as it determines the rate firms have to pay for private debt and it governs capital requirements of lenders (Basel II and III). The study shows a positive impact on a firm's credit ratings whenever there was a loan amendment in the month prior to the rating update. Amending loans after the initial loan contract therefore carries signalling power to the capital market (in line with existing literature) and implies benefits to both borrowers and lenders. The third study finds an additional beneficial effect of loan amendments for firms. We investigate whether loan amendments might serve as a channel available to firms to speed up their adjustments toward capital structure targets. Against a broad range of alternative leverage target definitions used in the capital structure literature recently, loan amendments tend to accelerate firms' speed of adjustments by up to 10.6 percent points within twelve months after the loan has been amended (in addition to firms' general speed of adjustment). Therefore, our studies provide evidence for additional, novel benefits of corporate debt renegotiation which encourages firms to update and optimise financial contract design even after origination.

As emerging market economies gain increasing influence and importance in the global economy, any development with a potentially destabilizing effect on the economic performance on such countries should be carefully monitored. This paper examines one particular development: the rise of consumer debt. Through the case studies of Turkey, China, and Brazil, this paper seeks to analyze the relationship between an increase in consumer debt and a country's GDP growth in emerging markets and how a detrimental relationship could severely impact the international economy at large.

This thesis consists of three related essays that examine the role of information in the market for corporate debt. The three essays collectively examine the role of information produced by the firm and its agents on alleviating information asymmetries facing public debtholders. In particular, the thesis examines the impact of bondholders' demand for reputation and information on the firm's disclosure choices and accounting attributes; and the impact of information produced by monitoring the firm's private debt before its entry to the public debt market on the yield spread of its initial bond. The first essay investigates the influence of public corporate debt on the willingness of UK firms to issue profit warnings. UK firms operate within a legal environment that is less litigious compared to their US counterparts. This setting allows for motives other than fear of litigation to affect UK companies' decision to warn. The results of this essay indicate that UK firms with public debt are more forthcoming with the disclosure of permanent negative news. Also, the results show that UK firms without public debt are more likely to hide bad news when they are closer to financial distress. However, for firms with public debt, the results indicate that the effect of closeness to financial distress on the willingness to warn is attenuated. These findings suggest that firms with public debt are deterred from hiding negative news for fear of damaging their reputation for truthful and timely disclosure. Public debt appears to act as a disciplinary mechanism on corporate disclosure policy.The second essay examines the impact of the initial public debt offering (IPDO) on the timeliness properties of the firm's accounting income. Firms are more likely to communicate with private lenders on a private, insider-basis, while they are more likely to communicate with bondholders using public information. Therefore, bondholders, compared to private lenders, are expected to be more sensitive to the quality of public information. The results indicate that firms adopt a timelier policy of economic loss recognition after their initial public debt offering using Basu's (1997) time series measure of timely loss recognition. These findings suggest that firms face higher demand for public information from a large number of external and dispersed bondholders.The third essay investigates the impact of information associated with prior private debt financing on the yield spread of companies' initial public debt offerings. Specifically, this essay focuses on information produced through monitoring by credit rating agencies and monitoring by banks. The findings indicate that IPDOs with the same or upgraded credit ratings enjoy significantly lower yield spreads. This finding suggests that changes in credit ratings could convey new information to investors regarding the firm's commitment to maintain a high credit quality. In addition, the findings of this essay indicate that strong banking relationships significantly reduce yield spreads for initial public debt offerings. This suggests that a strong banking relationship conveys a positive signal to bondholders regarding the bank's assessment of the quality of the firm.

Esta tesis esta compuesta por tres capítulos. Los dos primeros capítulos estudian los efectos macroeconómicos de una consolidación fiscal y estímulos fiscales cuando la deuda privada es elevada. El tercer capítulo, estudia proyecciones de deuda púbica para el caso español bajo diferentes escenarios macroeconómicos. En el primer capítulo se analiza los efectos macroeconómicos de diferentes planes de consolidación fiscal en los que el gobierno reduce de forma gradual la ratio deuda pública-PIB y el sector privado está altamente endeudado. Lo resultados muestran que en el largo plazo, la consolidación fiscal genera beneficios en términos de output que son mayores en el caso en el que el sector público este altamente endeudado. En el corto plazo, la efectividad de la política fiscal en un escenario de deuda alta, depende del instrumento fiscal utilizado. Finalmente se analiza el bienestar social, encontrando que la política de consolidación fiscal produce una ganancia en términos de bienestar cuando el gasto público o el impuesto al consumo se utilizan como instrumento y este bienestar es mayor en el caso de endeudamiento privado alto. Sin embargo, cuando el instrumento fiscal son los impuestos al trabajo o al capital, se produce una pérdida de bienestar que es amplificada en un escenario de endeudamiento alto. En el segundo capítulo, se estudia como el tamaño de los multiplicadores fiscales depende del nivel de endeudamiento privado. Este artículo contribuye al debate de los efectos de los estímulos fiscales demostrando que el impacto de las políticas fiscales depende del nivel de endeudamiento, considerando el endeudamiento de los hogares y empresas. Finalmente, en el tercer capítulo se examina las proyecciones de deuda para la economía española bajo diferentes escenarios macroeconómicos. Se encuentra que la deuda aumentará hasta un 174% en 2035 si se cumple el escenario macroeconómico que predice la Comisión Europea. En el caso de considerar una subida de impuestos, la deuda disminuye pero lejos de llegar a los niveles pre-COVID.