Essays on Debt Issuance and Debt Structure

This thesis consists of three chapters on empirical corporate finance. In chapter one, I examine how CEO overconfidence affects firms’ choice of debt issuance. I find that firms with overconfident CEOs issue more bank loans than public bonds. The second chapter examines the effect of organization capital on corporate debt structure. I find that firms with higher organization capital rely more on unsecured debt. In chapter three, I examine the primary bond market’s reaction to banks’ incentives and ability toward managing the expected loan default problem during COVID-19. I find that loan loss provisions capture banks’ precautionary behavior during the pandemic.