We examine the marginal impact of Fitch ratings on the at-issuance yields of industrial and utility bonds rated by Moody's and S&P. We find that Fitch ratings reduce the yield premiums on information opaque bonds by about 30% or 15 basis points. The finding is robust even when a Fitch rating...

Chinese government broke its long-standing practice of bond bailouts in March 2014. The number and par value of bond defaults increased substantially in the following years. We investigate the Chinese bond defaults from 2014 to 2019 and examine the impact of the no-bailout reform. We find...

We examine the relative impact of Moody's and S&P ratings on bond yields and find that at issuance yields on split rated bonds with superior Moody's ratings are, on average, 8 basis points lower than yields on split rated bonds with superior S&P ratings. This pattern suggests that investors...

In light of the dramatic changes in the callable bond market, we re-examine the determinants of callable bonds. Using data from 1980-2003, we find that callable bonds are often issued by firms with both information asymmetry and underinvestment problems. However, risk-shifting does appear to be...