The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between debt maturity structure and stock price crash risk in Australia.
The authors employ panel data estimation with industry and year fixed effects. The paper uses a sample of 1,548 publicly listed Australian firms (8,661 firm-year observations) covering the 2000–2015 period.
Stock price crash risk is positively and significantly associated with the long-term debt maturity structure of firms. In addition, this positive association is more pronounced for firms with a more opaque information environment.
This is the first study to examine stock price crash risk in Australia. The findings are value relevant as it uncovers how debt maturity structure affects shareholders' wealth protection.
