During the period 1985-1998 corporate risk research moved toward integrating default risk with macroeconomic and funding dynamics to price risky debt and guide hedging and capital allocation. Endogenous bankruptcy became a central idea, linking leverage to credit spreads and debt pricing while covenant design emerged as a core risk-management instrument. Methodologically, diffusion-based models and empirically grounded assessments bridged formal risk frameworks with managerial risk preferences and governance considerations.