本研究包含兩篇跨國獨立研究，分別探討公司融資政策與銀行風險相關議題。第一篇探索公司發債前夕的現金調整行為。第二篇研究檢視收入不平等對於銀行風險的影響。 第一篇研究利用固定收益證券資料庫（Fixed Income Securities Database）的公司債發行資料，探討公司債發行前夕的信號效果，即發行公司如何調整其現金水位以及此行為對於公司發債的影響。使用1981-2018年美國公司債資料，本研究發現發行公司發債前夕會提高其現金水位，並且此行為能為公司吸引投資人注意力並降低公司債的利率成本。此一效果對於具有財務限制或低程度盈餘管理的公司更為顯著。 第二篇研究收集歐亞地區62個國家的資料，期間介於2004-2020年。研究發現收入不平等與銀行風險具有負向關係，此一發現符合風險分散論點。此一論點假設當收入不平等加劇，人民對於借貸的需求提高，因此會有更多的債務人向銀行借貸，從而降低銀行信用風險。此外，本研究進一步指出此一效果對於經濟或政治不確定性較高的國家更為顯著。最後，此一現象並不受限於歐洲或亞洲以及國家的經濟水準。 ;This dissertation includes two independent essays. The first essay investigates issuers’ cash holding policy prior to corporate bond issuance. The second research examines the effect of income inequality on bank risk. In the first essay, using Fixed Income Securities Database bond issuance data, we examine how firms’ cash holding adjustment exhibits a signaling effect prior to corporate bond issuance and its implication. Analyzing a sample of U.S. bonds from 1981 to 2018, the results found that bond issuers adjust their cash holdings higher prior to bond issuance compared to non-issuer firms. After controlling for various firm and bond characteristics, we found that firms that adjust their cash holdings higher attract investors’ attention, thus resulting in lower bond spreads. Our results also perform different patterns in subsamples when adopting accrued and real earnings management, financial constraints, and corporate opacity. In the second essay, we examine the effect of income inequality on bank risk. Since previous literature documents income inequality could trigger credit boom, we hypothesize this credit boom may affect bank risk in two different ways. The first channel is increasing bank risk by scale up the leverage of existing borrower. The second channel is decreasing bank risk by incorporating new borrowers to banks. Our empirical result is more consistent with latter one. Using a sample of 62 countries covered Europe and Asia area from 2004-2020, we found income inequality is negative associated with bank risk. Further, we indicated that the effect of income inequality on bank risk is more pronounced when countries with more economic or political uncertainty. Our results are consistent in subsample partitioned by continent and development level.
