IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/auu/hpaper/096.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Australian corporate bond market before credit ratings, 1915-83

Author

Listed:
  • Grant Fleming
  • Frank Liu
  • David Merrett
  • Simon Ville

Abstract

Very few long-term studies exist of corporate bond markets. We analyse the Australian domestic corporate bond market, 1915-83, measuring how and why it changed, and which companies and sectors commonly drew upon this form of finance. This was a time before credit ratings agencies and when evolving legal and regulatory requirements and financial advice provided few protections for investors. Using unique data for over 4,900 individual bond issuances by 436 private sector and regulated government entities, we investigate whether certain firm characteristics were associated with superior pricing and/or shorter maturity, thereby reflecting their lower perceived risk by investors.

Suggested Citation

  • Grant Fleming & Frank Liu & David Merrett & Simon Ville, 2021. "The Australian corporate bond market before credit ratings, 1915-83," CEH Discussion Papers 03, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    • Handle: RePEc:auu:hpaper:096
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cbe.anu.edu.au/researchpapers/CEH/WP202103.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. J. D. Bailey, 1959. "Australian Borrowing In Scotland In The Nineteenth Century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 12(2), pages 268-279, December.
    2. Brown, William O, Jr & Burdekin, Richard C K, 2002. "German Debt Traded in London during the Second World War: A British Perspective on Hitler," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 69(276), pages 655-669, November.
    3. Tim Brailsford & John C. Handley & Krishnan Maheswaran, 2012. "The historical equity risk premium in Australia: post‐GFC and 128 years of data," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52(1), pages 237-247, March.
    4. Waldenström, Daniel & Frey, Bruno S., 2008. "Did nordic countries recognize the gathering storm of World War II? Evidence from the bond markets," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 107-126, April.
    5. Harris, Milton & Raviv, Artur, 1991. "The Theory of Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(1), pages 297-355, March.
    6. Francis A. Longstaff & Sanjay Mithal & Eric Neis, 2005. "Corporate Yield Spreads: Default Risk or Liquidity? New Evidence from the Credit Default Swap Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(5), pages 2213-2253, October.
    7. Murray Z. Frank & Vidhan K. Goyal, 2009. "Capital Structure Decisions: Which Factors Are Reliably Important?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 38(1), pages 1-37, March.
    8. McLean Ian W., 1994. "Saving in Settler Economies: Australian and North American Comparisons," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 432-452, October.
    9. Thomas Mathews, 2019. "A History of Australian Equities," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2019-04, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    10. Ville,Simon & Withers,Glenn (ed.), 2015. "The Cambridge Economic History of Australia," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107029491.
    11. Flannery, Mark J, 1986. "Asymmetric Information and Risky Debt Maturity Choice," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 41(1), pages 19-37, March.
    12. Grant Fleming & Zhangxin (Frank) Liu & David Merrett & Simon Ville, 2021. "Underpricing in a developing capital market: Australian equity issuances, 1920–39†," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(3), pages 831-855, August.
    13. Long Chen & David A. Lesmond & Jason Wei, 2007. "Corporate Yield Spreads and Bond Liquidity," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(1), pages 119-149, February.
    14. Bai, Jennie & Bali, Turan G. & Wen, Quan, 2019. "Common risk factors in the cross-section of corporate bond returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(3), pages 619-642.
    15. Simon Ville & D. T. Merrett, 2000. "The Development of Large Scale Enterprise in Australia, 1910-64," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(3), pages 13-46.
    16. Aldo Musacchio & John D. Turner, 2013. "Does the law and finance hypothesis pass the test of history?," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 524-542, June.
    17. Ville, Simon & Merrett, David Tolmie, 2020. "Investing in a Wealthy Resource-Based Colonial Economy: International Business in Australia before World War I," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 94(2), pages 321-346, July.
    18. Merrett, David T. & Ville, Simon, 2009. "Financing Growth: New Issues by Australian Firms, 1920–1939," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 83(3), pages 563-589, October.
    19. Monica J. Keneley, 2012. "The Development of the Institutional Investor: The Case of Australian Life Insurers 1945–85," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52(3), pages 270-292, November.
    20. Musacchio, Aldo, 2008. "Can Civil Law Countries Get Good Institutions? Lessons from the History of Creditor Rights and Bond Markets in Brazil," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 68(1), pages 80-108, March.
    21. Fleming,Grant & Merrett,David & Ville,Simon, 2006. "The Big End of Town," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521689908.
    22. Carola Frydman & Eric Hilt, 2017. "Investment Banks as Corporate Monitors in the Early Twentieth Century United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(7), pages 1938-1970, July.
    23. Tim Brailsford & John C. Handley & Krishnan Maheswaran, 2008. "Re‐examination of the historical equity risk premium in Australia," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 48(1), pages 73-97, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Grant Fleming & Zhangxin (Frank) Liu & David Merrett & Simon Ville, 2021. "Underpricing in a developing capital market: Australian equity issuances, 1920–39†," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(3), pages 831-855, August.
    2. Hui Chen & Yu Xu & Jun Yang, 2012. "Systematic Risk, Debt Maturity, and the Term Structure of Credit Spreads," NBER Working Papers 18367, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Bai, Jennie & Goldstein, Robert S. & Yang, Fan, 2020. "Is the credit spread puzzle a myth?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(2), pages 297-319.
    4. Kung, Ko-Lun & Hsieh, Ming-Hua & Peng, Jin-Lung & Tsai, Chenghsien Jason & Wang, Jennifer L., 2021. "Explaining the risk premiums of life settlements," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    5. Jean-Pascal Bassino & Thomas Lagoarde-Segot, 2015. "Informational efficiency in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, 1931–40," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 68(4), pages 1226-1249, November.
    6. Wei, Xu & Xiao, Xiao & Zhou, Yi & Zhou, Yimin, 2023. "Spillover effects between liquidity risks through endogenous debt maturity," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    7. Zhiguo He & Wei Xiong, 2012. "Rollover Risk and Credit Risk," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(2), pages 391-430, April.
    8. Nguyen, Trang & Alpert, Karen & Faff, Robert, 2021. "Relative bond-stock liquidity and capital structure choices," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    9. Robert J. Bianchi & Michael E. Drew & Eduardo Roca & Timothy Whittaker, 2017. "Risk factors in Australian bond returns," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(2), pages 373-400, June.
    10. Zhou, Yimin & Wei, Xu, 2023. "Bond liquidity, debt maturity and bond risk premium," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    11. Kashefi Pour, Eilnaz & Khansalar, Ehsan, 2015. "Does debt capacity matter in the choice of debt in reducing the underinvestment problem?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 251-264.
    12. Kanwal Iqbal Khan & Faisal Qadeer & Mário Nuno Mata & José Chavaglia Neto & Qurat ul An Sabir & Jéssica Nunes Martins & José António Filipe, 2021. "Core Predictors of Debt Specialization: A New Insight to Optimal Capital Structure," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-25, April.
    13. Chang, Charles & Fuh, Cheng-Der & Kao, Chu-Lan Michael, 2017. "Reading between the ratings: Modeling residual credit risk and yield overlap," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 114-135.
    14. Li, Xiang & Su, Dan, 2020. "How does economic policy uncertainty affect corporate debt maturity?," IWH Discussion Papers 6/2020, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    15. Bandyopadhyay, Arindam & Barua, Nandita Malini, 2016. "Factors determining capital structure and corporate performance in India: Studying the business cycle effects," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 160-172.
    16. Karampatsas, Nikolaos & Petmezas, Dimitris & Travlos, Nickolaos G., 2014. "Credit ratings and the choice of payment method in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 474-493.
    17. Zhiguo He & Paymon Khorrami & Zhaogang Song, 2022. "Commonality in Credit Spread Changes: Dealer Inventory and Intermediary Distress," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(10), pages 4630-4673.
    18. Im, Hyun Joong & Faff, Robert & Ha, Chang Yong, 2022. "Uncertainty, investment spikes, and corporate leverage adjustments," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    19. Paseda, Oluseun & Olowe, Rufus, 2018. "The Debt Maturity Structure of Nigerian Quoted Firms," MPRA Paper 117061, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 30 Jun 2018.
    20. Güntay, Levent & Hackbarth, Dirk, 2010. "Corporate bond credit spreads and forecast dispersion," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 2328-2345, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:auu:hpaper:096. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/chanuau.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.