Did Firms Undertake Debt-Equity Swaps for an Accounting Paper Profit or True Financial Gain?
研究1981年8月至1984年6月期间企业进行债转股的动机，发现企业既为了平滑每股收益的暂时性下降，也为了以最低成本缓解偿债基金约束，但盈余平滑动机更强。
Abstract ABSTRACT: This study examines the testable implications of two hypotheses for why firms undertook debt-equity swaps over the period August 1981-June 1984. The first hypothesis Is that firms used the accounting-based reported earnings gain from the swap to smooth an unexpected and transitory decrease in their earnings per share. The second hypothesis Is that a swap enabled the firm to relax potentially binding sinking-fund constraints in the cheapest feasible manner. Empirically, this study concludes that firms undertook debt-equity swaps for both reasons, but that swapping to smooth earnings was a much stronger motivation than swapping to relax potentially binding sinking-fund constraints.