This optimal
capital structure is obtained when the marginal benefit
of an additional dollar amount of debt financing equals
its marginal cost. Following the static trade-off theory,
we would expect companies with a lot of internal funds
to rebalance their capital structure and issue additional
outside debt financing. First, businesses with plenty of
internal funds or financial slack are less likely to fail,
reducing the bankruptcy costs associated with debt
financing. Financial slack buffers companies from
shocks in the environment and allows them to survive
during turbulent times (Sharfman et al. 1988).