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Sovereign credit ratings in the European Union: A model-based fiscal analysis

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  • Polito, Vito
  • Wickens, Michael

Abstract

We present a model-based measure of sovereign credit ratings derived solely from the fiscal position of a country: a forecast of its future debt liabilities, and its potential to use fiscal policy to repay these. We use this measure to calculate credit ratings for 14 European countries over the period 1995–2012. This measure identifies a European sovereign debt crisis almost two years before the official ratings of the credit rating agencies.

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  • Polito, Vito & Wickens, Michael, 2015. "Sovereign credit ratings in the European Union: A model-based fiscal analysis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 220-247.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:78:y:2015:i:c:p:220-247
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2015.05.009
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    Cited by:

    1. Jan Bruha & Moritz Karber & Beatrice Pierluigi & Ralph Setzer, 2017. "Understanding Rating Movements in Euro Area Countries," Working Papers 2017/06, Czech National Bank.
    2. Heer, Burkhard & Polito, Vito & Wickens, Michael R., 2020. "Population aging, social security and fiscal limits," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    3. Wickens, Michael R., 2016. "Is there an alternative way to avoid another eurozone crisis to the Five Presidents' Report?," CEPR Discussion Papers 11225, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Polito, Vito & Wickens, Michael, 2014. "How the Euro Crisis Evolved and how to Avoid Another: EMU, Fiscal Policy and Credit Ratings," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 39(PB), pages 364-374.
    5. Javier Andrés & Pablo Burriel & Wenyi Shen, 2020. "Debt sustainability and fiscal space in a heterogeneous Monetary Union: normal times vs the zero lower bound," Working Papers 2001, Banco de España.
    6. Ben Hmiden, Oussama & Ben Cheikh, Nidhaleddine, 2016. "Debt-threshold effect in sovereign credit ratings: New evidence from nonlinear panel smooth transition models," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 273-278.
    7. King Yoong Lim & Pengfei Jia & Ali Raza, 2018. "Crime, Human Capital, and the Impact of Different Taxation," Working Papers 220851234, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    8. Christian Bauer & Marc-Patrick Adolph, 2020. "Structured Common Project Financing (SCPF): Efficiency without Debt Mutualization," Research Papers in Economics 2020-02, University of Trier, Department of Economics.
    9. Ben Hmiden, Oussama & Tatoutchoup, Didier & Nguimkeu, Pierre & Avelé, Donatien, 2024. "Discrepancy and cross-regional bias in sovereign credit ratings: Analyzing the role of public debt," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    10. Michael Wickens, 2016. "The eurozone financial crisis: debt, credit ratings and monetary and fiscal policy," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 43(2), pages 219-233, May.
    11. Cimadomo, Jacopo & Claeys, Peter & Poplawski-Ribeiro, Marcos, 2016. "How do experts forecast sovereign spreads?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 216-235.
    12. Wickens, Michael, 2016. "Is there an alternative way to avoid another eurozone crisis to the Five Presidents' Report?," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(PB), pages 156-165.
    13. Abdul Rafay & Yang Chen & Muhammad A.B.Naeem & Maham Ijaz, 2018. "Analyzing the Impact of Credit Ratings on Firm Performance and Stock Returns: An Evidence from Taiwan," Iranian Economic Review (IER), Faculty of Economics,University of Tehran.Tehran,Iran, vol. 22(3), pages 771-790, Summer.
    14. Zoran Ivanovic & Sinisa Bogdan & Suzana Baresa, 2015. "Modeling and Estimating Shadow Sovereign Ratings," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 9(3), September.
    15. Bi, Huixin & Shen, Wenyi & Yang, Shu-Chun S., 2016. "Fiscal limits in developing countries: A DSGE Approach," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 119-130.
    16. Martin Guzman & Domenico Lombardi, 2018. "Assessing the Appropriate Size of Relief in Sovereign Debt Restructuring," Documentos de trabajo del Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política IIEP (UBA-CONICET) 2018-26, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política IIEP (UBA-CONICET).
    17. Pierluigi, Beatrice & Brůha, Jan & Setzer, Ralph & Karber, Moritz, 2017. "Understanding sovereign rating movements in euro area countries," Working Paper Series 2011, European Central Bank.
    18. Bauer, Christian & Adolph, Marc-Patrick, 2021. "Limited joint liability in structured Eurobonds: Pricing the political costs," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Credit risk; Sovereign risk; Fiscal limits; Default probability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General
    • H60 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - General

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