Optimal Contracting, Corporate Finance, and Valuation with Inalienable Human Capital

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Finance
Year: 2019
Volume: 74
Issue: 3
Pages: 1363-1429

Authors (3)

PATRICK BOLTON (not in RePEc) NENG WANG (Columbia University) JINQIANG YANG (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

A risk‐averse entrepreneur with access to a profitable venture needs to raise funds from investors. She cannot indefinitely commit her human capital to the venture, which limits the firm's debt capacity, distorts investment and compensation, and constrains the entrepreneur's risk sharing. This puts dynamic liquidity and state‐contingent risk allocation at the center of corporate financial management. The firm balances mean‐variance investment efficiency and the preservation of financial slack. We show that in general the entrepreneur's net worth is overexposed to idiosyncratic risk and underexposed to systematic risk. These distortions are greater the closer the firm is to exhausting its debt capacity.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:bla:jfinan:v:74:y:2019:i:3:p:1363-1429
Journal Field
Finance
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-29