This paper investigates the determinants of credit spreads (levels and changes) via credit derivatives, using an Australian sample. We incorporate a number of different relationships to assess the contributions of various market-wide and firm-specific factors in determining levels, and changes...

We document a significant decline in the likelihood of firm-specific stock price crashes after the announcement of credit rating downgrades in 69 countries. This finding supports the argument that credit rating agencies (CRAs) contribute to the disseminating of negative information in the equity...

The recent Global Financial Crisis has focused our attention on the integrity of rating agencies. Often condemned for being too slow to act, rating agencies have been blamed during many financial crises. This impression opens some research questions addressed in this paper. What are the...