Disproportional control rights and debt maturity

Using a hand-collected sample of U.S. dual-class firms, we find that corporate debt maturity increases in insiders' disproportional control rights, which is robust to several robustness tests. This relation is more pronounced among firms more vulnerable to control disruption. Besides, firms with greater disproportional control rights issue more long-term new debt. Further analysis of the stock market reaction to new debt issuance shows that controlling insiders' preference for long-term debt benefits outside shareholders. Overall, our findings suggest that the benefits of minimizing control disruption surpass the costs of long-term debt in insider-controlled firms.