We provide evidence that investors with leverage constraints demand leverage for the sake of leverage. We study the equity closed-end fund (CEF) market and document a strong positive relation between fund leverage and CEF premiums, indicating that investors pay a relative premium for leverage. We perform a quasi-natural experiment and identify leverage as a causal driver of the premium. Leverage changes do not signal improved fund performance. Instead, the only benefit to investors of increased leverage is amplified exposure via greater volatility and risk exposure. We supply external validity by relating our results to the betting-against-beta factor. (JEL G12, G14, G32) Received December 5, 2021; editorial decision February 7, 2023 by Editor Jeffrey Pontiff. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.

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投资者对杠杆的需求：来自股票封闭式基金的证据

我们提供的证据表明，受到杠杆限制的投资者为了杠杆而需要杠杆。我们研究了股票封闭式基金 (CEF) 市场，发现基金杠杆与 CEF 溢价之间存在很强的正相关关系，这表明投资者为杠杆支付了相对溢价。我们进行了一项准自然实验，并将杠杆确定为溢价的因果驱动因素。杠杆变化并不意味着基金业绩有所改善。相反，增加杠杆对投资者的唯一好处是通过更大的波动性和风险敞口放大敞口。我们通过将我们的结果与对贝塔系数下注联系起来来提供外部有效性。（JEL G12、G14、G32）2021 年 12 月 5 日收到；编辑 Jeffrey Pontiff 于 2023 年 2 月 7 日做出的编辑决定。作者提供了一个互联网附录，