Liquidation Values and the Credibility of Financial Contract Renegotiation: Evidence from U.S. Airlines
利用美国航空业数据，研究清算价值如何影响金融合同的重新谈判，发现航空公司会在财务状况差且飞机清算价值低时成功下调租赁义务，说明战略性重新谈判在航空业很常见。
How do liquidation values affect financial contract renegotiation? While the "incomplete-contracting" theory of financial contracting predicts that liquidation values determine the allocation of bargaining power between creditors and debtors, there is little empirical evidence on financial contract renegotiations and the role asset values play in such bargaining. This paper attempts to fill this gap. We develop an incomplete-contracting model of financial contract renegotiation and estimate it using data on the airline industry in the United States. We find that airlines successfully renegotiate their lease obligations downward when their financial position is sufficiently poor and when the liquidation value of their fieet is low. Our results show that strategic renegotiation is common in the airline industry. Moreover, the results emphasize the importance of the incomplete contracting perspective to real-world financial contract renegotiation.