Debt Financing and Tax Status: Tests of the Substitution Effect and the Tax Exhaustion Hypothesis Using Firms' Responses to the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981
利用1981年美国经济复苏税法改革，检验非债务税盾增加是否导致杠杆下降，结果支持替代效应和税收耗竭假说。
ABSTRACT This study tests the joint prediction of the substitution effect and the tax exhaustion hypothesis that an increase in non‐debt tax shields leads to a decrease in leverage. Controls are introduced for the debt securability effect, the pecking order theory of financing, and the probability of losing tax shields. Using the relationship between changes in investment tax shields and changes in debt tax shields of firms in response to the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, strong empirical support is found for predictions based on the substitution effect and the tax exhaustion hypothesis.