A Gap‐Filling Theory of Corporate Debt Maturity Choice
提出企业作为宏观流动性提供者，通过调整自身债务期限来填补政府债务期限结构变化造成的缺口，并发现政府短期债务增加时企业会发行更多长期债务，反之亦然。
ABSTRACT We argue that time variation in the maturity of corporate debt arises because firms behave as macro liquidity providers, absorbing the supply shocks associated with changes in the maturity structure of government debt. We document that when the government funds itself with more short‐term debt, firms fill the resulting gap by issuing more long‐term debt, and vice versa. This type of liquidity provision is undertaken more aggressively: (1) when the ratio of government debt to total debt is higher and (2) by firms with stronger balance sheets. Our theory sheds new light on market timing phenomena in corporate finance more generally.