We examine initial public offerings (IPOs) with single, multiple, and no credit ratings. We document a beneficial effect of credit ratings on IPO underpricing, which is amplified by the existence of multiple credit ratings. Multiple ratings also reduce the extent of filing price revisions....

This paper uses a range of structural VARs to show that the response of US stock prices to fiscal shocks changed in 1980. Over the period 1955-1980 an expansionary spending or revenue shock was associated with modestly higher stock prices. After 1980, along with a decline in the fiscal...