IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/bracre/v57y2025i3s0890838924001963.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Political sentiment and credit ratings

Author

Listed:
  • Hasan, Mostafa Monzur
  • Hossain, Ashrafee
  • Jiang, Haiyan

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between firms’ political sentiment (PSENT) and their credit ratings. Using US public firms as the sample, we reveal that PSENT is positively associated with corporate credit ratings. Furthermore, we find evidence indicating that a positive PSENT leads to higher credit ratings, while a negative PSENT results in lower credit ratings. We also demonstrate that PSENT is positively (negatively) associated with the investment grade and rating upgrade (rating downgrade). The cross-sectional analysis indicates that the positive relationship between PSENT and credit ratings is more evident among firms facing severe information asymmetry, financial distress risk, and weaker governance. Additionally, we observe that PSENT leads to higher new debt issuance. Finally, we conduct a survey of credit analysts and find evidence that corroborates our findings from empirical analyses. Overall, our study suggests that PSENT has an essential bearing on corporate credit quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Hossain, Ashrafee & Jiang, Haiyan, 2025. "Political sentiment and credit ratings," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(3).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bracre:v:57:y:2025:i:3:s0890838924001963
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bar.2024.101432
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890838924001963
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.bar.2024.101432?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erasmo Giambona & John R Graham & Campbell R Harvey, 2017. "The management of political risk," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(4), pages 523-533, May.
    2. Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Lee, Hsiao-Hui & Liu, Alfred Zhu & Zhang, Zhipeng, 2015. "Corporate innovation, default risk, and bond pricing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 329-344.
    3. Samuel B. Bonsall IV & Eric R. Holzman & Brian P. Miller, 2017. "Managerial Ability and Credit Risk Assessment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(5), pages 1425-1449, May.
    4. John Y. Campbell & Jens Hilscher & Jan Szilagyi, 2008. "In Search of Distress Risk," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(6), pages 2899-2939, December.
    5. Hainmueller, Jens, 2012. "Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects: A Multivariate Reweighting Method to Produce Balanced Samples in Observational Studies," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, January.
    6. Joseph Engelberg & Runjing Lu & William Mullins & Richard R. Townsend, 2023. "Political Sentiment and Innovation: Evidence from Patenters," NBER Working Papers 31619, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Karavitis, Panagiotis & Kazakis, Pantelis, 2022. "Political sentiment and syndicated loan borrowing costs of multinational enterprises," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Ryan, Harley Jr. & Wiggins, Roy III, 2004. "Who is in whose pocket? Director compensation, board independence, and barriers to effective monitoring," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(3), pages 497-524, September.
    9. Ashrafee Hossain & Abdullah-Al Masum & Samir Saadi & Ramzi Benkraiem, 2023. "Generalist CEO and carbon emissions," Post-Print hal-04193241, HAL.
    10. Emily Oster, 2019. "Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 187-204, April.
    11. Chen, Deqiu & Li, Sifei & Xiao, Jason Zezhong & Zou, Hong, 2014. "The effect of government quality on corporate cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 384-400.
    12. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2016. "Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1593-1636.
    13. Kimberly J. Cornaggia & Gopal V. Krishnan & Changjiang Wang, 2017. "Managerial Ability and Credit Ratings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(4), pages 2094-2122, December.
    14. repec:oup:revfin:v:29:y:2016:i:12:p:3471-3518. is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Ashbaugh-Skaife, Hollis & Collins, Daniel W. & LaFond, Ryan, 2006. "The effects of corporate governance on firms' credit ratings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 203-243, October.
    16. Tarek A Hassan & Stephan Hollander & Laurence van Lent & Ahmed Tahoun, 2019. "Firm-Level Political Risk: Measurement and Effects," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(4), pages 2135-2202.
    17. Divya Anantharaman & Vivian W. Fang & Guojin Gong, 2014. "Inside Debt and the Design of Corporate Debt Contracts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(5), pages 1260-1280, May.
    18. Mei Cheng & K. R. Subramanyam, 2008. "Analyst Following and Credit Ratings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 1007-1044, December.
    19. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Lobo, Gerald J. & Qiu, Buhui, 2021. "Organizational capital, corporate tax avoidance, and firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    20. Hossain, Ashrafee & Masum, Abdullah-Al & Saadi, Samir & Benkraiem, Ramzi, 2023. "Generalist CEO and carbon emissions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 68-86.
    21. Peter Demerjian & Baruch Lev & Sarah McVay, 2012. "Quantifying Managerial Ability: A New Measure and Validity Tests," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(7), pages 1229-1248, July.
    22. Alam, Nurul & Boubaker, Sabri & Chen, Xiaomeng Charlene & Hasan, Mostafa Monzur, 2024. "Brand capital and debt choice," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    23. Becker, Bo & Milbourn, Todd, 2011. "How did increased competition affect credit ratings?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 493-514, September.
    24. Amy J. Hillman & Asghar Zardkoohi & Leonard Bierman, 1999. "Corporate political strategies and firm performance: indications of firm‐specific benefits from personal service in the U.S. government," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 67-81, January.
    25. Bhandari, Avishek & Golden, Joanna, 2021. "CEO political preference and credit ratings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    26. Joseph V. Terza, 2017. "Two-stage residual inclusion estimation: A practitioners guide to Stata implementation," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 17(4), pages 916-938, December.
    27. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Jiang, Haiyan, 2023. "Political sentiment and corporate social responsibility," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    28. Habib, Ahsan & Ranasinghe, Dinithi, 2022. "Labor investment efficiency and credit ratings," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    29. Sandvik, Jason, 2020. "Board monitoring, director connections, and credit quality☆," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    30. Najah Attig & Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Jungwon Suh, 2013. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Credit Ratings," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(4), pages 679-694, November.
    31. Yung‐Ling Chi & Sean Flynn, 2022. "The impact of credit rating information on disclosure quality," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 51(1), pages 73-115, March.
    32. Michal Wojewodzki & Winnie P.H. Poon & Jianfu Shen, 2018. "The role of credit ratings on capital structure and its speed of adjustment: an international study," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(9), pages 735-760, June.
    33. Gungoraydinoglu, Ali & Çolak, Gönül & Öztekin, Özde, 2017. "Political environment, financial intermediation costs, and financing patterns," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 167-192.
    34. Samuel B. Bonsall & Brian P. Miller, 2017. "The impact of narrative disclosure readability on bond ratings and the cost of debt," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 608-643, June.
    35. Frank Fabozzi & Vivian M. Breemen & Dennis Vink & Mike Nawas & Austin Gengos, 2023. "How much do Investors Rely on Credit Ratings: Empirical evidence from the U.S. and E.U. CLO primary market," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 63(2), pages 221-247, April.
    36. Francis, Jennifer & LaFond, Ryan & Olsson, Per & Schipper, Katherine, 2005. "The market pricing of accruals quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 295-327, June.
    37. Arthur Lewbel, 2012. "Using Heteroscedasticity to Identify and Estimate Mismeasured and Endogenous Regressor Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 67-80.
    38. Todorov, Karamfil, 2020. "Quantify the quantitative easing: Impact on bonds and corporate debt issuance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(2), pages 340-358.
    39. Christine Harland & Jan Telgen & Guy Callender & Rick Grimm & Andrea Patrucco, 2019. "Implementing Government Policy in Supply Chains: An International Coproduction Study of Public Procurement," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 55(2), pages 6-25, April.
    40. John Donovan & Jared Jennings & Kevin Koharki & Joshua Lee, 2021. "Measuring credit risk using qualitative disclosure," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 815-863, June.
    41. Jiang, Feng & John, Kose & Li, C. Wei & Qian, Yiming, 2018. "Earthly Reward to the Religious: Religiosity and the Costs of Public and Private Debt," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(5), pages 2131-2160, October.
    42. Mia Hang Pham & Yulia Merkoulova & Chris Veld, 2023. "Credit risk assessment and executives’ legal expertise," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 2361-2400, December.
    43. Anagnostopoulou, Seraina C. & Tsekrekos, Andrianos E., 2015. "Earnings management in firms seeking to be acquired," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 351-375.
    44. Knechel, W. Robert & Park, Hyun Jong, 2022. "Audit firm political connections and PCAOB inspection reports," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    45. Edward I. Altman, 1968. "Financial Ratios, Discriminant Analysis And The Prediction Of Corporate Bankruptcy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(4), pages 589-609, September.
    46. Kang, Jun-Koo & Luo, Juan & Na, Hyun Seung, 2018. "Are institutional investors with multiple blockholdings effective monitors?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(3), pages 576-602.
    47. Baghdadi, Ghasan A. & Nguyen, Lily H.G. & Podolski, Edward J., 2020. "Board co-option and default risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    48. Hossain, Ashrafee Tanvir & Hossain, Takdir & Kryzanowski, Lawrence, 2021. "Political corruption and corporate payouts," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    49. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2001. "The theory and practice of corporate finance: evidence from the field," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2-3), pages 187-243, May.
    50. Liu, Yixin & Jiraporn, Pornsit, 2010. "The effect of CEO power on bond ratings and yields," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 744-762, September.
    51. Darren T. Roulstone, 2003. "Analyst Following and Market Liquidity," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(3), pages 552-578, September.
    52. MARA FACCIO & RONALD W. MASULIS & JOHN J. McCONNELL, 2006. "Political Connections and Corporate Bailouts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2597-2635, December.
    53. Hu, Xiaolu & Huang, Haozhi & Pan, Zheyao & Shi, Jing, 2019. "Information asymmetry and credit rating: A quasi-natural experiment from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 132-152.
    54. Darren J. Kisgen, 2006. "Credit Ratings and Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(3), pages 1035-1072, June.
    55. Kothari, S.P. & Leone, Andrew J. & Wasley, Charles E., 2005. "Performance matched discretionary accrual measures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 163-197, February.
    56. Mostafa Monzur Hasan & Grantley Taylor, 2023. "Brand capital and credit ratings," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 228-254, January.
    57. Hossain, Ashrafee & Hossain, Takdir & Jha, Anand & Mougoué, Mbodja, 2023. "Credit ratings and social capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    58. Park, June Woo & Nam, Giseok & Tsang, Albert & Lee, Yung-Jae, 2022. "Firstborn CEOs and credit ratings," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(4).
    59. Panagiotis Asimakopoulos & Stylianos Asimakopoulos & Aichen Zhang, 2021. "Dividend smoothing and credit rating changes," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1-2), pages 62-85, January.
    60. Whited, Toni M, 1992. "Debt, Liquidity Constraints, and Corporate Investment: Evidence from Panel Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1425-1460, September.
    61. Vivian W. Fang & Xuan Tian & Sheri Tice, 2014. "Does Stock Liquidity Enhance or Impede Firm Innovation?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(5), pages 2085-2125, October.
    62. Livingston, Miles & Poon, Winnie P.H. & Zhou, Lei, 2018. "Are Chinese credit ratings relevant? A study of the Chinese bond market and credit rating industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 216-232.
    63. Almeida, Heitor & Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Li, Dongmei & Tseng, Kevin, 2021. "More Cash, Less Innovation: The Effect of the American Jobs Creation Act on Patent Value," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(1), pages 1-28, February.
    64. Senay Agca & Volodymyr Babich & John R. Birge & Jing Wu, 2022. "Credit Shock Propagation Along Supply Chains: Evidence from the CDS Market," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(9), pages 6506-6538, September.
    65. Jawad M. Addoum & Alok Kumar, 2016. "Political Sentiment and Predictable Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(12), pages 3471-3518.
    66. Isaiah Andrews, 2018. "Valid Two-Step Identification-Robust Confidence Sets for GMM," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(2), pages 337-348, May.
    67. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Hossain, Ashrafee & Hossain, Takdir, 2023. "CEO inside debt holdings and credit ratings," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1).
    68. Driss, Hamdi & Drobetz, Wolfgang & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane, 2021. "Institutional investment horizons, corporate governance, and credit ratings: International evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    69. Mao, Connie X. & Zhang, Chi, 2018. "Managerial Risk-Taking Incentive and Firm Innovation: Evidence from FAS 123R," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(2), pages 867-898, April.
    70. Larkin, Yelena, 2013. "Brand perception, cash flow stability, and financial policy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 232-253.
    71. Fu, Xudong & Huang, Minjie & Tang, Tian, 2022. "Duration of executive compensation and maturity structure of corporate debt," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    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. Panta, Humnath & Narayanasamy, Arun & Panta, Ayush, 2023. "Organizational capital and credit ratings," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    2. Cai, Xiangshang & Gao, Yang & Wu, Zhiting & Yuan, Jiayi, 2024. "Chief executive officer marital status and corporate credit ratings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PA).
    3. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Hossain, Ashrafee & Hossain, Takdir, 2023. "CEO inside debt holdings and credit ratings," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1).
    4. Zehan Hou & Richard Fairchild & Pietro Perotti, 2025. "CEO Narcissism and Credit Ratings," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 197(1), pages 39-72, February.
    5. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Jiang, Haiyan, 2023. "Political sentiment and corporate social responsibility," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    6. Bao, Xin & Han, Meini & Lau, Raymond & Xu, Xiaowei, 2024. "Corporate integrity culture and credit rating assessment," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    7. Hu, Haoshen & Lazar, Emese & Pan, Jingqi & Wang, Shixuan, 2024. "Environmental performance and credit ratings: A transatlantic study," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    8. Jaspreet Kaur & Madhu Vij & Ajay Kumar Chauhan, 2023. "Signals influencing corporate credit ratings—a systematic literature review," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 50(1), pages 91-114, March.
    9. Dang, Man & Puwanenthiren, Premkanth & Jones, Edward & Nguyen, Thieu Quang & Vo, Xuan Vinh & Nadarajah, Sivathaasan, 2022. "Strategic archetypes, credit ratings, and cost of debt," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    10. Nguyen, Harvey & Pham, Anh Viet & Pham, Man Duy (Marty) & Pham, Mia Hang, 2025. "Climate change and corporate credit worthiness: International evidence," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Zahid, S M & Islam, Mohammad Nazrul & Zhou, Ling, 2025. "Cost uniqueness and corporate credit rating," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    12. Alam, Nurul & Boubaker, Sabri & Chen, Xiaomeng Charlene & Hasan, Mostafa Monzur, 2024. "Brand capital and debt choice," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    13. Habib, Ahsan & Ranasinghe, Dinithi, 2022. "Asset redeployability and credit ratings," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    14. Mia Hang Pham & Yulia Merkoulova & Chris Veld, 2023. "Credit risk assessment and executives’ legal expertise," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 2361-2400, December.
    15. Jiang, Fuxiu & Wang, Weiyi & Zheng, Xiaojia, 2024. "Board chair and credit rating of family firms: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    16. Gurmeet S. Bhabra & Harjeet S. Bhabra & Ashrafee T. Hossain, 2022. "CEO inside debt and the acquisition of private targets," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2163-2202, June.
    17. A. Hossain & A.-A. Masum & S. Saadi & R. Benkraiem & N. Das, 2023. "Firm-Level Climate Change Risk and CEO Equity Incentives," Post-Print hal-04434397, HAL.
    18. Hossain, Ashrafee & Benkraiem, Ramzi & Krishnamurti, Chandrasekhar, 2025. "Political sentiment and corporate payouts," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    19. Hossain, Ashrafee & Hossain, Takdir & Jha, Anand & Mougoué, Mbodja, 2023. "Credit ratings and social capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    20. Hossain, Ashrafee Tanvir & Kryzanowski, Lawrence, 2021. "Political corruption and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:eee:bracre:v:57:y:2025:i:3:s0890838924001963. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/the-british-accounting-review .

    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.