信息不对称、公司风险与债务期限结构

Information Asymmetry, Corporate Risk and Debt Maturity

上市公司的债务期限结构是影响其债务融资成本、举债计划和代理成本的重要因素。本文基于债务期限结构的信息不对称理论,利用1997-2005沪市A股上市公司数据,通过检验Flannery模型和Diamond模型,进一步分析信息不对称程度和公司风险等级对我国上市公司债务期限结构的影响效果。实证研究结果表明信息不对称对债务期限有重要影响:总体来看,信息不对称程度较高时,低风险和高风险上市公司均选择短期债务,中等风险上市公司则选择长期债务,与理论模型预期一致;但当信息不对称程度的降低后,实证结果均未能验证Flannery模型和Diamond模型。

On the basis of the information asymmetry theory on debt maturity structure, this paper utilizes the 1997-2005 data of A-share companies listed in Shanghai stock market to analyze the result and impact of the information asymmetry intensity and company’s risk grade on debt maturity structure through examining Flannery model and Diamond model. From the quantitative angle, we find that the information asymmetry has an important influence on debt maturity structure; when the intensity of information asymmetry is higher, low-risk and high-risk companies both choose to take short-term debt, while intermediate-risk companies choose the long-term debt, which consists with the predictions based on theoretical model. But when the intensity of information asymmetry is reduced, the sample result fails to verify both Flannery model and Diamond model.