The Determinants of Leveraged Buyout Activity: Free Cash Flow vs. Financial Distress Costs
对比实施与未实施杠杆收购的公司，发现实施收购的公司通常投资机会差但现金流高，且多元化程度更高；而财务困境成本高的公司（如研发支出高）则更少进行杠杆收购。
This paper investigates the determinants of leveraged buyout (LBO) activity by comparing firms that have implemented LBOs to those that have not. Consistent with the free cash flow theory, we find that firms that initiate LBOs can be characterized as having a combination of unfavorable investment opportunities (low Tobin's q) and relatively high cash flow. LBO firms also tend to be more diversified than firms which do not undertake LBOs. In addition, firms with high expected costs of financial distress (e.g., those with high research and development expenditures) are less likely to do LBOs.