Impact of employer-sponsored health insurance on firm capital structure: evidence from the Affordable Care Act

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article investigates how employer-sponsored health insurance (ESHI) expenses affect firm capital structure. Since 2015, the Affordable Care Act employer mandate has required firms with more than 100 full-time employees to provide health insurance benefits to their employees. We exploit the exogenous increase in ESHI expenses for large firms after the mandate to identify the causal effect of ESHI on firm capital structure. Using COMPUSTAT merged with the Form 5500 data, we find that firms with higher ESHI expenses have higher long-term but lower short-term leverage. That is, accounting for ESHI expenses provides important explanatory power for firm capital structure.