We explore the role of ESG raters' business models in the production of their ratings, noting that increasingly ESG raters not only produce ESG ratings but also construct and sell index products based on their ESG ratings. We examine whether deriving revenue from ESG rating-based indices is...

We examine rating behaviour after the introduction of new regulations regarding Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) in the European securitisation market. Employing a large sample of 12,469 ABS tranches issued between 1998 and 2018, we examine the information content of yield spreads of ABS at the...

The practice of responsible and sustainable investing has led to the incorporation of environmental, social and governance (ESG) information into investment decisions. The role of ESG rating agencies has been to facilitate decision-making by aggregating unstructured ESG information into a single...

Recently, there has been a growing focus on sustainability issues within the financial sector. However, quantitative analysis of social and governance aspects has been challenging due to difficulties in data modelling. With the recent regulatory updates for standardised disclosure, the next step...

Purpose - We examine whether the social capital of the area where a firm's headquarters is located affects that firm's credit rating. Given that credit rating agencies only infrequently visit a firm's headquarters, it is pertinent to investigate whether this soft information is considered....

This research explores the impact of financial indicators on the credit ratings of companies listed on the S&P 500, employing a Sys-GMM model to address endogeneity concerns. Three independent variables categorized as market and survival factors alongside seven control variables sourced from...

This study investigates the production of information by multiple rating agencies when the value of information to buyers is heterogeneous. We modelled that an entrant may coexist with a monopoly incumbent by providing coarser and more economical ratings than the incumbent. Such a strategy can...

Despite growing investor reliance on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings, we know relatively little about how such ratings are constructed. Recent evidence of disagreement across ESG ratings raises concerns about their credibility. We note that while reputational concerns likely...

We examine whether rating shopping and rating catering behaviours, two sources of credit rating inflation, are still prevalent in the post-Global Financial Crisis (GFC) period after the introduction of new regulations regarding Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) in the European securitisation market....

This study revisits the existing evidence of a downward trend in credit rating standards indicating that CRAs have become more conservative over time. We find that the time-series variation in the proxy for rating standards is mostly driven by the market-based variables in the model,...

We study how inflated credit ratings affect investment decisions in bond markets using experimental coordination games. Theoretical models that feature a feedback effect between capital markets and the real economy suggest that inflated ratings can have both positive and negative real effects....

The question of whether credit rating agencies (CRAs) influence financial markets has been widely debated. However, answering the question empirically generates great challenges because CRAs consider market developments in their decisions, making them endogenous, and financial markets anticipate...

Our study documents the direct and spillover costs arising from the loss of reputation for credit rating agencies (CRAs). Credit ratings are essential for a well-functioning debt market, and the integrity of these ratings depends on the reputation of the CRAs. Using data from the unexpected...

The bank risk aggregation method based on financial statements has been widely used in recent years. However, previous studies neglect the textual risk disclosures of credit rating agencies and analysts meanwhile ignoring textual sentiment. Therefore, this paper first incorporates textual...

We provide the first evidence of systematic bias among an emerging type of credit rating agency that relies on subscriptions from institutional clients as its primary source of revenue. Using data on Egan-Jones (EJR) ratings, a subscriber-paid rating agency, we show that EJR issues more...

This study revisits the existing evidence of a downward trend in credit rating standards indicating that CRAs have become more conservative over time. We find that the time-series variation in the proxy for rating standards is mostly driven by the market-based variables in the model,...

This paper analyzes the (dis)agreement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ratings across different rating providers and implications for portfolio management. It documents a considerable level of disagreement that is particularly high for large companies and for companies from the...

We examine and compare corporate bond rating standards, discriminatory power, stability, and market impact of investor-paid and issuer-paid ratings. We find no consistent evidence of investor-paid Egan-Jones ratings being more stringent or having higher discriminatory power of default risk....

An open question in finance and economics is how the beliefs of agents in the economy affect the credit cycle and real economic activity. We analyze the impact of beliefs on credit market conditions in the context of credit rating agencies (CRAs). We measure CRAs’ subjective beliefs as the...