CHAPTER 12 Leverage and Capital Structure 525- Franco Modigliani and Merton H. Miller, “The Cost of Capital, Corporation Finance, and the Theory of Invest-
ment,” American Economic Review(June 1958), pp. 261–297. - Perfect-market assumptions include (1) no taxes, (2) no brokerage or flotation costs for securities, (3) symmetri-
cal information—investors and managers have the same information about the firm’s investment prospects, and (4)
investor ability to borrow at the same rate as corporations.
away from reliance on banks for corporate financing and toward greater reliance
on security issuance. Over time, the differences in the capital structures of U.S.
and non-U.S. firms will probably lessen.
Capital Structure Theory
Scholarly research suggests that there is an optimal capital structure range. It is
not yet possible to provide financial managers with a specified methodology for
use in determining a firm’s optimal capital structure.Nevertheless, financial the-
ory does offer help in understanding how a firm’s chosen financing mix affects
the firm’s value.
In 1958, Franco Modigliani and Merton H. Miller^14 (commonly known as
“M and M”) demonstrated algebraically that, assuming perfect markets,^15 the
capital structure that a firm chooses does not affect its value. Many researchers,
including M and M, have examined the effects of less restrictive assumptions on
the relationship between capital structure and the firm’s value. The result is a the-
oretical optimalcapital structure based on balancing the benefits and costs of
debt financing. The major benefit of debt financing is the tax shield, which allows
interest payments to be deducted in calculating taxable income. The cost of debt
financing results from (1) the increased probability of bankruptcy caused by debt
obligations, (2) the agency costsof the lender’s monitoring the firm’s actions, and
(3) the costs associated with managers having more information about the firm’s
prospects than do investors.
Tax Benefits
Allowing firms to deduct interest payments on debt when calculating taxable
income reduces the amount of the firm’s earnings paid in taxes, thereby making
more earnings available for bondholders and stockholders. The deductibility of
interest means the cost of debt, ki, to the firm is subsidized by the government.
Letting kdequal the before-tax cost of debt and letting Tequal the tax rate, from
Chapter 11 (Equation 11.2), we have kikd(1T).
Probability of Bankruptcy
The chance that a firm will become bankrupt because of an inability to meet its
obligations as they come due depends largely on its level of both business risk and
financial risk.
Business Risk In Chapter 11, we definedbusiness riskas the risk to the firm
of being unable to cover its operating costs. In general, the greater the firm’soper-
ating leverage—the use of fixed operating costs—the higher its business risk.
Although operating leverage is an important factor affecting business risk, two