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The effect of rating agencies on herd behaviour

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  • Giovanni Ferri
  • Andrea Morone

Abstract

This paper purports to provide some evidence on the effect of rating agencies in financial markets. By means of a laboratory experiment, we investigate the effect and interaction between private and public information. We reached two conclusions: (1) indeed, the rating agency can speed up price convergence, (2) but not always to the fundamental price. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Giovanni Ferri & Andrea Morone, 2014. "The effect of rating agencies on herd behaviour," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 9(1), pages 107-127, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jeicoo:v:9:y:2014:i:1:p:107-127
    DOI: 10.1007/s11403-013-0114-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Ruiz-Buforn, Alba & Camacho-Cuena, Eva & Morone, Andrea & Alfarano, Simone, 2021. "Overweighting of public information in financial markets: A lesson from the lab," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    2. Morone, Andrea & Nuzzo, Simone, 2015. "Market Efficiency, Trading Institutions and Information Mirages: evidence from an experimental asset market," MPRA Paper 67448, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Nuzzo, Simone & Morone, Andrea, 2017. "Asset markets in the lab: A literature review," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 42-50.
    4. Alba Ruiz-Buforn & Simone Alfarano & Eva Camacho-Cuena & Andrea Morone, 2022. "Single vs. multiple disclosures in an experimental asset market with information acquisition," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(13-15), pages 1513-1539, October.
    5. Rocco Caferra & Gabriele Tedeschi & Andrea Morone, 2023. "Agents interaction and price dynamics: evidence from the laboratory," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 18(2), pages 251-274, April.
    6. Rocco Caferra & Simone Nuzzo & Andrea Morone, 2023. "“Less is more” or “more is better”? The effect of asymmetric information distribution on market efficiency and wealth inequality," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 18(2), pages 233-250, April.
    7. Basu, Kaushik & Sun, Haokun, 2022. "The power and influence of rating agencies with insights into their misuse," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    8. Ruiz-Buforn, Alba & Alfarano, Simone & Morone, Andrea, 2019. "Welfare effects of public information in a laboratory financial market," MPRA Paper 95424, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Alfarano, Simone & Camacho, Eva & Petrovic, Marko & Provenzano, Giulia, 2014. "The Interplay between Public and Private Information in Asset Markets: Theoretical and Experimental Approaches," FinMaP-Working Papers 9, Collaborative EU Project FinMaP - Financial Distortions and Macroeconomic Performance: Expectations, Constraints and Interaction of Agents.
    10. Alfarano, Simone & Camacho, Eva & Morone, Andrea, 2015. "Do investors rely too much on public information to be justified by its accuracy? An experimental study," FinMaP-Working Papers 30, Collaborative EU Project FinMaP - Financial Distortions and Macroeconomic Performance: Expectations, Constraints and Interaction of Agents.
    11. Matthies, Alexander B., 2013. "Empirical research on corporate credit-ratings: A literature review," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2013-003, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    12. Ruiz-Buforn, Alba & Alfarano, Simone & Camacho-Cuena, Eva & Morone, Andrea, 2018. "Crowding out effect and traders' overreliance on public information in financial markets: a lesson from the lab," MPRA Paper 88866, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2013-003 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Andrea Morone & Simone Nuzzo, 2019. "Market efficiency, trading institutions and information mirages: evidence from a laboratory asset market," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 14(2), pages 317-344, June.
    15. Simone Alfarano & Andrea Morone & Eva Camacho, 2011. "The role of public and private information in a laboratory financial market," Working Papers. Serie AD 2011-06, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    16. Zonna, Davide, 2016. "Sprechi di cibo e tentativi di riduzione. Un caso sperimentale [Avoiding food waste. A field experiment]," MPRA Paper 76097, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Herd behaviour; Informational cascades; Rating agency; Bubble; C91; D82; D83;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

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