Corporate Debt and Distress Risk in Emerging Markets

This dissertation consists of two papers in the field of international finance, both under the general theme of corporate distress in emerging markets. In the first paper, I explore how the leverage and size of emerging market firms relates to their financial fragility. I also show that idiosyncratic shocks to large firms have macroeconomic effects. In the second paper, I estimate an emerging market-specific measure of distress risk and explore its asset pricing implications. I find that global financial conditions help explain changes in firms’ probability of default, and that distressed stocks earn a premium over their safer counterparts.Doctor of Philosoph