Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/56900 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
Jena Economic Research Papers No. 2011,021
Publisher: 
Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena
Abstract: 
We present an experiment designed to test the Modigliani-Miller theorem. Applying a general equilibrium approach and not allowing for arbitrage among firms with different capital structures, we find that, in accordance with the theorem, participants well recognize changes in the systematic risk of equity associated with increasing leverage and, accordingly, demand higher rate of return. Yet, this adjustment is not perfect: subjects underestimate the systematic risk of low-leveraged equity whereas they overestimate the systematic risk of high-leveraged equity, resulting in a U-shaped cost of capital. A (control) individual decision-making experiment, eliciting several points on individual demand and supply curves for shares, provides some support for the theorem.
Subjects: 
Modigliani-Miller theorem
experiments
decision making under risk
general equilibrium
JEL: 
G32
C91
G12
D53
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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