Agents maximizing their own pay-off subject to perceived game theory nash equilibrium. Chrysler Financial CEO: "Hmm.. Should I pay back the government now and risk the mid-long term financial stability of the company OR keep the money and be subjected to whatever pay-cuts the government wants to impose on me as well as restrictions on leverage and high-risk strategies, which would both decrease my short-term payout." (note this is just a hypothesis, I don't actually know any of the details of the case)
I am not up to date with Lee Iacocca, but I remember reading his autobiography 20 years ago. Iacocca: An Autobiography is Lee Iacocca's best selling autobiography, co-authored with William Novak and originally published in 1984. Most of the book is taken up with reminiscences of Iacocca's career in the car industry, first with the Ford Motor Company, then the Chrysler Corporation. The hugely successful autobiography was the best-selling non-fiction hardcover book of 1984 and 1985. In Part 3, "The Chrysler Story", Iacocca tells of his difficult task of saving Chrysler from bankruptcy. He began a total reorganization of the company (including many layoffs) and received a US$1.2 billion loan from the government. On July 13, 1983, the government loan was paid back in full and Chrysler began to flourish under the management of Iacocca.