Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/93069 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 1364
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
How do banks choose their debt maturity structure when credit markets are subject to information frictions? This paper proposes a model of equilibrium maturity choice with asymmetric information and endogenous roll-over risk. We show that in the presence of public signals about firms' creditworthiness (credit ratings), firms choose to expose themselves to positive roll-over risk in order to minimize price distortions. Short-term financing is socially desirable when banks' capacity to repay short-term creditors depends on their credit rating, as it helps mitigate the underlying adverse selection problem. Notwithstanding these social benefits, the equilibrium maturity structure always exhibits inefficient short-termism. If banks receiving a credit downgrade face sufficiently high roll-over risk, the equilibrium maturity structure approaches the constrained efficient allocation.
Subjects: 
Debt Maturity
Rollover Risk
Asymmetric Information
Global Games
JEL: 
G10
G20
G30
G32
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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