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Does Regulatory Certification Affect the Information Content of Credit Ratings?

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  • Valentina Bruno

    (Kogod School of Business, American University, Washington, DC 20016)

  • Jess Cornaggia

    (McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057)

  • Kimberly J. Cornaggia

    (Kogod School of Business, American University, Washington, DC 20016)

Abstract

We exploit an investor-paid rating agency’s designation as a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) to test whether this certification affects the agency’s information production. We use a certified issuer-paid agency as a benchmark and find robust evidence that the investor-paid agency’s ratings policy—both timelier and more symmetric with respect to positive and negative information—persists after it became certified for regulatory compliance. Our results suggest that ratings policy is more a function of rating agency compensation structure than the NRSRO certification by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This paper was accepted by Gustavo Manso, finance.

Suggested Citation

  • Valentina Bruno & Jess Cornaggia & Kimberly J. Cornaggia, 2016. "Does Regulatory Certification Affect the Information Content of Credit Ratings?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(6), pages 1578-1597, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:62:y:2016:i:6:p:1578-1597
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2015.2188
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    2. Berwart, Erik & Guidolin, Massimo & Milidonis, Andreas, 2019. "An empirical analysis of changes in the relative timeliness of issuer-paid vs. investor-paid ratings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 88-118.
    3. Viral V. Acharya & Ryan N. Banerjee & Matteo Crosignani & Tim Eisert & Renée Spigt, 2022. "Exorbitant Privilege? Quantitative Easing and the Bond Market Subsidy of Prospective Fallen Angels," Staff Reports 1004, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    4. Zhou, Ying & Shen, Long & Ballester, Laura, 2023. "A two-stage credit scoring model based on random forest: Evidence from Chinese small firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
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    6. Ormazabal, Gaizka, 2018. "The Role of Stakeholders in Corporate Governance: A View from Accounting Research," CEPR Discussion Papers 12775, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Minkwan Ahn & Samuel B. Bonsall & Andrew Buskirk, 2019. "Do managers withhold bad news from credit rating agencies?," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 972-1021, September.
    8. Samuel B. Bonsall & Kevin Koharki & Pepa Kraft & Karl A. Muller & Anywhere Sikochi, 2023. "Do Rating Agencies Behave Defensively for Higher Risk Issuers?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(8), pages 4864-4887, August.
    9. Byoun, Soku & Han, Seung Hun & Shin, Yoon S., 2021. "Does the Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization certification matter for Japanese credit rating agencies?," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    10. Goergen, Marc & Gounopoulos, Dimitrios & Koutroumpis, Panagiotis, 2021. "Do multiple credit ratings reduce money left on the table? Evidence from U.S. IPOs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    11. Patrick Behr & Darren J. Kisgen & Jérôme P. Taillard, 2018. "Did Government Regulations Lead to Inflated Credit Ratings?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(3), pages 1034-1054, March.
    12. Huang, He & Svec, Jiri & Wu, Eliza, 2021. "The game changer: Regulatory reform and multiple credit ratings," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    13. Ginevra Marandola & Rossella Mossucca, 2021. "When did the stock market start to react less to downgrades by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch?," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 1-45, February.
    14. Bonsall, Samuel B. & Gillette, Jacquelyn R. & Pundrich, Gabriel & So, Eric, 2024. "Conflicts of interest in subscriber-paid credit ratings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1).
    15. 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.
    16. Jess N. Cornaggia & Kimberly J. Cornaggia & Ryan D. Israelsen, 2020. "Where the Heart Is: Information Production and the Home Bias," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(12), pages 5532-5557, December.
    17. Liu, Yan, 2023. "Essays on credit rating agencies in China," Other publications TiSEM b54b3315-1185-48b8-aaf8-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    18. Sean Flynn & Andra Ghent, 2018. "Competition and Credit Ratings After the Fall," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(4), pages 1672-1692, April.
    19. Wenming Xu & Yan Liu, 2021. "Does reputational capital affect credit rating agencies?: empirical evidence from a natural experiment in China," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 433-468, June.
    20. Agoraki, Maria-Eleni & Gounopoulos, Dimitrios & Kouretas, Georgios P., 2021. "Market expectations and the impact of credit rating on the IPOs of U.S. banks," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 587-610.

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