IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/ijfiec/v30y2025i1p330-351.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How do credit ratings affect corporate investment efficiency?

Author

Listed:
  • Di Xiao
  • Xinyu Yu

Abstract

This study examines the impact of credit ratings on the efficiency of firms' investments. Using a large sample of US firms, we find a positive relationship between the existence of credit ratings and investment efficiency. The cross‐sectional analyses show the positive relationship is more pronounced for firms with greater information asymmetry and weaker corporate governance. Our results are robust to different methods to address potential endogeneity concerns, alternative measures of key variables, and the inclusion of additional control variables. Overall, the findings support the notion that credit rating agencies enhance information transparency and external monitoring, thereby allowing rated firms to promote investment efficiency. The findings contribute to our understanding of the significant role played by credit rating agencies in shaping firms' investment behaviour and efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Di Xiao & Xinyu Yu, 2025. "How do credit ratings affect corporate investment efficiency?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 330-351, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ijfiec:v:30:y:2025:i:1:p:330-351
    DOI: 10.1002/ijfe.2920
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.2920
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/ijfe.2920?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lemmon, Michael L. & Zender, Jaime F., 2010. "Debt Capacity and Tests of Capital Structure Theories," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(5), pages 1161-1187, October.
    2. Bonsall, Samuel B. & Leone, Andrew J. & Miller, Brian P. & Rennekamp, Kristina, 2017. "A plain English measure of financial reporting readability," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 329-357.
    3. Biddle, Gary C. & Hilary, Gilles & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2009. "How does financial reporting quality relate to investment efficiency?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2-3), pages 112-131, December.
    4. Mittoo, Usha R. & Zhang, Zhou, 2008. "The capital structure of multinational corporations: Canadian versus U.S. evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 706-720, December.
    5. Rajkovic, Tijana, 2020. "Lead independent directors and investment efficiency," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    6. Kirsten A. Cook & Andrea M. Romi & Daniela Sánchez & Juan Manuel Sánchez, 2019. "The influence of corporate social responsibility on investment efficiency and innovation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3-4), pages 494-537, March.
    7. Michael Faulkender & Mitchell A. Petersen, 2006. "Does the Source of Capital Affect Capital Structure?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(1), pages 45-79.
    8. Stulz, ReneM., 1990. "Managerial discretion and optimal financing policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 3-27, July.
    9. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    10. Fazzari, Steven M & Hubbard, R Glenn & Petersen, Bruce C, 1988. "Investment, Financing Decisions, and Tax Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(2), pages 200-205, May.
    11. Stoughton, Neal M. & Wong, Kit Pong & Yi, Long, 2017. "Investment Efficiency and Product Market Competition," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(6), pages 2611-2642, December.
    12. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    13. Arnoud W. A. Boot & Todd T. Milbourn & Anjolein Schmeits, 2006. "Credit Ratings as Coordination Mechanisms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(1), pages 81-118.
    14. 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.
    15. Cheng, Mei & Neamtiu, Monica, 2009. "An empirical analysis of changes in credit rating properties: Timeliness, accuracy and volatility," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1-2), pages 108-130, March.
    16. R. Glenn Hubbard, 1998. "Capital-Market Imperfections and Investment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 193-225, March.
    17. Hinh D. Khieu & Mark K. Pyles, 2016. "The Influence of a Credit Rating Change on Dividend and Investment Policy Interactions," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 51(4), pages 579-611, November.
    18. An, Heng (Hunter) & Chan, Kam C., 2008. "Credit ratings and IPO pricing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 584-595, December.
    19. Mengyao Kang, 2022. "Credit rating downgrade risk and acquisition decisions," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5-6), pages 1011-1073, May.
    20. Aktas, Nihat & Petmezas, Dimitris & Servaes, Henri & Karampatsas, Nikolaos, 2021. "Credit ratings and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    21. Mohammed Benlemlih & Mohammad Bitar, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Investment Efficiency," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 647-671, March.
    22. Steiner, Manfred & Heinke, Volker G, 2001. "Event Study Concerning International Bond Price Effects of Credit Rating Actions," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 6(2), pages 139-157, April.
    23. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 2001. "Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 405-440, September.
    24. Boochun Jung & Naomi Soderstrom & Yanhua Sunny Yang, 2013. "Earnings Smoothing Activities of Firms to Manage Credit Ratings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 645-676, June.
    25. 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.
    26. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. Hand, John R M & Holthausen, Robert W & Leftwich, Richard W, 1992. "The Effect of Bond Rating Agency Announcements on Bond and Stock Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 733-752, June.
    28. Jory, Surendranath R. & Ngo, Thanh N. & Wang, Daphne, 2016. "Credit ratings and the premiums paid in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(PA), pages 93-104.
    29. Kee H. Chung & Carol Ann Frost & Myungsun Kim, 2012. "Characteristics and Information Value of Credit Watches," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 41(1), pages 119-158, March.
    30. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1986. "Large Shareholders and Corporate Control," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 461-488, June.
    31. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    32. Holthausen, Robert W. & Leftwich, Richard W., 1986. "The effect of bond rating changes on common stock prices," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 57-89, September.
    33. Mohammed Benlemlih & Mohammad Bitar, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Investment Efficiency," Post-Print halshs-01321227, HAL.
    34. Toscano, Francesca, 2020. "Does the Dodd-Frank Act reduce the conflict of interests of credit rating agencies?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    35. 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.
    36. Dimitrios Gounopoulos & Hang Pham, 2017. "Credit Ratings and Earnings Management around IPOs," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1-2), pages 154-195, January.
    37. Chen, Tao & Xie, Lingmin & Zhang, Yuanyuan, 2017. "How does analysts' forecast quality relate to corporate investment efficiency?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 217-240.
    38. 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.
    39. Darren J. Kisgen, 2006. "Credit Ratings and Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(3), pages 1035-1072, June.
    40. 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.
    41. Jess N. Cornaggia & Kimberly J. Cornaggia & John E. Hund, 2017. "Credit Ratings Across Asset Classes: A Long-Term Perspective," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 21(2), pages 465-509.
    42. Guariglia, Alessandra & Yang, Junhong, 2016. "A balancing act: Managing financial constraints and agency costs to minimize investment inefficiency in the Chinese market," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 111-130.
    43. Kisgen, Darren J., 2009. "Do Firms Target Credit Ratings or Leverage Levels?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(6), pages 1323-1344, December.
    44. Eisdorfer, Assaf & Giaccotto, Carmelo & White, Reilly, 2013. "Capital structure, executive compensation, and investment efficiency," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 549-562.
    45. Stein, Jeremy C., 2003. "Agency, information and corporate investment," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 2, pages 111-165, Elsevier.
    46. Opp, Christian C. & Opp, Marcus M. & Harris, Milton, 2013. "Rating agencies in the face of regulation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 46-61.
    47. García Lara, Juan Manuel & García Osma, Beatriz & Penalva, Fernando, 2016. "Accounting conservatism and firm investment efficiency," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 221-238.
    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. Asiri, Mohammed & Al-Hadi, Ahmed & Taylor, Grantley & Duong, Lien, 2020. "Is corporate tax avoidance associated with investment efficiency?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    2. He Xiao, 2023. "Institutional investors' corporate site visits and corporate investment efficiency," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 23(2), pages 359-392, June.
    3. Ala'a Adden Awni Abuhommous, 2025. "Does the firm's life cycle matter in the relationship between short‐term debt and investment efficiency?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 1429-1449, April.
    4. Anagnostopoulou, Seraina C. & Trigeorgis, Lenos & Tsekrekos, Andrianos E., 2023. "Enhancement in a firm's information environment via options trading and the efficiency of corporate investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    5. Aktas, Nihat & Petmezas, Dimitris & Servaes, Henri & Karampatsas, Nikolaos, 2021. "Credit ratings and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    6. Shoaib Ali & Attiya Yasmin Javid, 2015. "Relationship between Credit Rating, Capital Structure and Earning Management Behaviour: Evidence from Pakistani Listed Firms," PIDE-Working Papers 2015:121, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    7. 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.
    8. Bilyay-Erdogan, Seda & Danisman, Gamze Ozturk & Demir, Ender, 2024. "ESG performance and investment efficiency: The impact of information asymmetry," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    9. Liu, Yin & Neely, Pamela & Karim, Khondkar, 2022. "The impact of CFO gender on corporate overinvestment," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    10. Houcine, Asma, 2017. "The effect of financial reporting quality on corporate investment efficiency: Evidence from the Tunisian stock market," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 321-337.
    11. Irfan Ullah & Muhammad Ansar Majeed & Hong-Xing Fang & Muhammad Arif Khan, 2020. "Female CEOs and investment efficiency: evidence from an emerging economy," Pacific Accounting Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(4), pages 443-474, November.
    12. Avishek Bhandari & Md Nazmul Hasan Bhuyan, 2023. "Social capital and capital allocation efficiency," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(7-8), pages 1439-1466, July.
    13. Arvidsson, Susanne & Eierle, Brigitte & Hartlieb, Sven, 2024. "Job satisfaction and investment efficiency – Evidence from crowdsourced employer reviews," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 266-280.
    14. Dak-Adzaklo, Cephas Simon Peter & Wong, Raymond M.K., 2024. "Corporate governance reforms, societal trust, and corporate financial policies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    15. Cao, Ning & McGuinness, Paul B. & Xi, Chao, 2024. "Majority-of-the-minority shareholder votes and investment efficiency," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    16. Lijuan Xiao & Min Bai & Yafeng Qin & Lingyun Xiong & Lijuan Yang, 2021. "Financial Slack and Inefficient Investment Decisions in China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(4), pages 920-941, June.
    17. Ijaz Ur Rehman & Faisal Shahzad & Khawaja Fawad Latif & Noman Nawab & Abdul Rashid & Shabir Hyder, 2021. "Does corporate social responsibility mediate the influence of national culture on investment inefficiency? Firm‐level evidence from Asia Pacific," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 3484-3503, July.
    18. Sami Adwan & M. Mostak Ahamed, 2025. "Employee ownership and corporate investment efficiency in Europe," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 64(1), pages 191-236, January.
    19. Akron, Sagi & Demir, Ender & Díez-Esteban, José María & García-Gómez, Conrado Diego, 2022. "How does uncertainty affect corporate investment inefficiency? Evidence from Europe," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    20. Driss, Hamdi & Massoud, Nadia & Roberts, Gordon S., 2019. "Are credit rating agencies still relevant? Evidence on certification from Moody's credit watches," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 119-141.

    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:wly:ijfiec:v:30:y:2025:i:1:p:330-351. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/1076-9307/ .

    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.