This paper examines the role of bond ratings and the effects of rating-based regulations in thecorporate bond market. Exploiting an unanticipated mechanical change in how the benchmarkLehman bond indices are constructed in 2005, we show that rating-induced market segmentationof the bond market...

This paper studies the ability of interested parities to communicate private information credibly to a decision maker in settings where their payoffs depend on the decision maker's action, but not on their own information per se. Examples of such situations arise in advertising, corporate...