Firms tend to underutilize debt

Question: Figures 15.7 and 15.9 in Berk and DeMarzo (2020) highlight a couple of interesting findings. The first is that certain industries are more likely two have firms that utilize more debt or leverage in their capital structures when compare against others, why is this? Second, firms tend to underutilize debt, which led some to believe that they are not acting in the firm’s best interest and maximizing firm value; the counterpoint is that increased leverage leads to greater financial distress and by avoiding financial distress they are maximizing firm value. Take one side of this argument and defend that perspective. https://plus.pearson.com/courses/7006024/products/1SWIMQUGY0R/pages/acf6e7aebf098cfd184ab02d359ad3ef0d7ffb7cf-id_toc2?locale=&isTpi=Y&key=26184224661243477057282022&iesCode=Hc3pyPNZkI