This paper presents evidence that firms choose conservative financial policies partly to mitigate workers' exposure to unemployment risk. We exploit changes in state unemployment insurance laws as a source of variation in the costs borne by workers during layoff spells. We find that higher unemployment benefits lead to increased corporate leverage, particularly for labor-intensive and financially constrained firms. We estimate the ex ante, indirect costs of financial distress due to unemployment risk to be about 60 basis points of firm value for a typical BBB-rated firm. The findings suggest that labor market frictions have a significant impact on corporate financing decisions.JEL classification: G32, G33, J31, J65

The effects of molecular structure on the electronic structure and redox properties of a series of 22 systematically designed conjugated polyquinolines and polyanthrazolines are explored by cyclic voltammetry and spectroelectrochemistry on thin films. The measured electrochemical bandgap of the series of conjugated polymers was in the range 2.0−3.1 eV and found to be in good agreement with the optical bandgap. The oxidation and reduction potentials, ionization potential, and electron affinity of the series of polymers were correlated with their main structural features. All the polyquinolines and polyanthrazolines had reversible reduction with formal potentials of −1.57 to −2.08 V (versus SCE) which make them excellent n-type semiconducting polymers. Polymers containing anthrazoline units have a higher electron affinity by 0.3−0.4 eV than those containing bis(quinoline) units. On the other hand, thiophene-linked polymers have a lower ionization potential by 0.45−0.5 eV than those with phenylene linkages. Thus, thiophene-linked polyanthrazolines combine both low ionization potentials (∼4.8−4.9 eV) and high electron affinities (∼2.9 eV) and as a result can be p-type and n-type doped to conducting polymers with relatively more stability in air. Spectroelectrochemistry of the thiophene-linked polymers revealed features characteristic of polarons and bipolarons or radical ion dimers. The results suggest that the series of polyquinolines and polyanthrazolines are promising electronic and optoelectronic materials.

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A series of 13 new homopolymers and three new copolymers along with six previously known polymers were synthesized and characterized in the class of conjugated polyquinolines and polyanthrazolines. The polymers were designed to systematically vary the ^-electron delocalization along the conjugated polymer backbone and, thereby, to tune the electronic structure and properties in a controlled fashion. The solid polymers, which exhibit a range of light yellow to deep red color in transmitted light, were obtained in high yield, with high intrinsic viscosity and high thermal stability. As a result of the rigid-rod nature of the polymer chains, lyotropic liquid crystalline phases were observed at high concentrations of the polymers in di-m-cresyl phosphate/m-cresol (1:3) solvent. An investigation of the electronic structure of the polymers by optical absorption spectroscopy of the polymer thin films revealed that the structural modifications in the polymers can vary the optical band gap by about 1.0 eV. For example, compared to the biphenyldiyl linked polyquinoline (PBPQ, 2b) which has a band gap (Et) of 2.81 eV, the dithienylvinylene linked polyanthrazoline (PBVDA, 3k) exhibited a drastically lower band gap of 2.0 eV. In general, replacement of a phenylene linkage by a thiophene linkage in the polyquinoline or polyanthrazoline backbone produced a significant red shift of Xm.. by 64-106 nm and a reduction of band gap by 0.3-0.5 eV. The new polymers are expected to have improved electronic, photoelectronic, and nonlinear optical properties for applications and serve as model systems for investigating structure-property relationships in conjugated polymers.

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