Description:
<jats:p>This study investigates the relationships between debt maturity structure and corporation R&amp;amp;D investment. Using a large sample of US listed firms over the period of 1995 to 2015, it was found that the use of bank debt positively influences R&amp;amp;D investment, whereas the use of public debt exerts a negative impact. However, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) mitigates the information asymmetry such that the advantages of private information from banks shrunk. As a result, public debtholders benefit more from the SOX and turn out to be positively influenced by the R&amp;amp;D investment after SOX. Moreover, bank debt impact on R&amp;amp;D spending reduces over the post-SOX. The results also find that the SOX influences the debt maturity on corporate R&amp;amp;D investment only for large corporations, the effects remain unchanged for small businesses.</jats:p>