Institutional arrangements and debt financing

•I examine the effects of institutional arrangements on firm debt choice and costs.•They affect a firm's likelihood of issuing public debt.•They affect a firm's likelihood of issuing debt internationally.•Better institutional arrangements reduce debt financing costs.

I find that institutional arrangements have an impact on the real economy by affecting firms’ choice between private and public debt and the subsequent financing costs. Using new debt issued by firms in 26 non-US countries, I find, after controlling for firm characteristics predicted by debt agency and information asymmetry theories, that the level of financial market development, the efficiency of bankruptcy procedure, the integrity and enforceability of laws, and the transparency of financial information have significant impacts not only on firms’ debt choice and yield to maturity in domestic debt market, but also their issuance choice in the international debt market.