Social capital and debt contracting: Evidence from bank loans and public bonds

Authors Hasan, Hoi, Wu and Zhang
Journal Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis
Year 2017
Type Published Paper
Abstract We find that firms headquartered in U.S. counties with higher levels of social capital incur lower bank loan spreads. This finding is robust to using organ donation as an alternative social capital measure and incremental to the effects of religiosity, corporate social responsibility, and tax avoidance. We identify the causal relation using companies with a social-capital-changing headquarters relocation. We also find that high-social-capital firms face loosened nonprice loan terms, incur lower at-issue bond spreads, and prefer public bonds over bank loans. We conclude that debt holders perceive social capital as providing environmental pressure that constrains opportunistic firm behaviors in debt contracting.
Keywords Social capital, bank loan cost, firm's financing decisions, debt contracting, investors' decisions
URL https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022109017000205
Tags Archival Empirical  |   Experimental / Survey-Based Empirical  |   Financing- and Investment Decisions (Individual)  |   Investment Decisions (Institutional)  |   Manager / Firm Behavior