Debt Overhang refers to a situation where a borrower has so much existing debt that they are unable to take on additional loans, even if those loans could be used for productive investment. This occurs because the potential future cash flows generated by new investments are likely to be used to pay off existing debts, leaving no incentive for creditors to lend more. As a result, the borrower may miss out on valuable opportunities for growth, leading to a stagnation in economic performance.
The concept can be summarized through the following points:
In mathematical terms, if a company's value is represented as and its debt as , the company may be unwilling to invest in a project that would generate a net present value (NPV) of if . Thus, the company might forgo beneficial investment opportunities, perpetuating a cycle of underperformance.
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