Bond covenants and the speed of corporate capital structure adjustment: Evidence from China

Abstract We investigate the effect of bond covenants on the speed of corporate capital structure adjustment. Based on manually collected bond covenant information from publicly listed Chinese firms between 2007 and 2019, we construct an index that measures the intensity of corporate bond covenants. Our results show that the greater the covenant intensity index of a firm's debt covenants, the faster the capital structure adjustment. Option covenants, restrictive asset transfer covenants, restrictive investment covenants, and event‐driven covenants all have a positive and significant association with the speed of capital structure adjustment, whereas no such effect is observed for financing covenants and repayment arrangement covenants. Furthermore, we examine the direction of adjustment and adjustment method, and demonstrate that bond covenants promote an upward adjustment in a firm's capital structure by increasing debt financing. An analysis of heterogeneity effects reveals that the positive relation between the intensity of bond covenants and speed of capital structure adjustment is more pronounced in state‐owned companies and companies headquartered in areas with higher legal standards. Finally, we show that information transparency, internal control, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance are channels through which bond covenants affect the speed of capital structure adjustment.