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More analysts, better ratings: Do rating agencies invest enough in less developed countries?

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  • Ferri, Giovanni

Abstract

Rating agencies' track record is good in developed countries but poor in emerging economies. Why? Given the almost-monopolistic structure of the industry, we conjecture that agencies might underinvest in information gathering. We propose an indicator quantifying the agencies' effort to gather information and assess whether greater effort affects rating levels. We detect: (i) absolute underinvestment for non-OECD sovereigns (less effort in spite of greater opaqueness); (ii) relative underinvestment for non-OECD firms compared with OECD ones (though the former receive a larger effort, more intense effort boosts firm ratings in non-OECD countries while depressing them in OECD countries).

Suggested Citation

  • Ferri, Giovanni, 2004. "More analysts, better ratings: Do rating agencies invest enough in less developed countries?," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 7(01), pages 1-22, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:jaecon:43847
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.43847
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    1. Thomas R. Atkinson, 1967. "Trends in Corporate Bond Quality," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number atki67-1, February.
    2. Nickell, Pamela & Perraudin, William & Varotto, Simone, 2000. "Stability of rating transitions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(1-2), pages 203-227, January.
    3. Ferri, Giovanni & Liu, Li-Gang & Majnoni, Giovanni, 2001. "The role of rating agency assessments in less developed countries: Impact of the proposed Basel guidelines," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 115-148, January.
    4. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    5. Bongini, Paola & Laeven, Luc & Majnoni, Giovanni, 2002. "How good is the market at assessing bank fragility? A horse race between different indicators," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 1011-1028, May.
    6. Giovanni Ferri & Li-Gang Liu, 2003. "How Do Global Credit-Rating Agencies Rate Firms from Developing Countries?," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 2(3), pages 30-56.
    7. W. Braddock Hickman, 1960. "Statistical Measures of Corporate Bond Financing since 1900," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number hick60-1, February.
    8. G. Ferri & L.-G. Liu & J. E. Stiglitz, 1999. "The Procyclical Role of Rating Agencies: Evidence from the East Asian Crisis," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 28(3), pages 335-355, November.
    9. Carmen M. Reinhart, 2002. "An Introduction," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 16(2), pages 149-150, August.
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    11. Cantor, Richard & Packer, Frank, 1997. "Differences of opinion and selection bias in the credit rating industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(10), pages 1395-1417, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrzej Cieslik & Lukasz Goczek, 2015. "On The Evolution Of Corruption Patterns In The Post-Communist Countries," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 10(1), pages 33-53, March.
    2. 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.
    3. Tennant, David F. & Tracey, Marlon R. & King, Damien W., 2020. "Sovereign credit rating: Evidence of bias against poor countries," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    4. Asiedu, Elizabeth & Jin, Yi & Nandwa, Boaz, 2009. "Does foreign aid mitigate the adverse effect of expropriation risk on foreign direct investment?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 268-275, July.
    5. Mattarocci, Gianluca, 2005. "Il rapporto tra impresa e agenzia di rating: la soluzione del multi-rating," MPRA Paper 4295, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Mar 2005.
    6. Thomas Lagner & Dodozu Knyphausen‐Aufseß, 2012. "Rating Agencies as Gatekeepers to the Capital Market: Practical Implications of 40 Years of Research," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(3), pages 157-202, August.
    7. Mohamed Lamine MBENGUE, 2013. "Does Corruption Increase the risk Premium on the West African Economic Monetary Union (WAEMU) Bond Market?," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 5(3), pages 129-135.
    8. Hubert Tchakoute Tchuigoua, 2015. "Capital Structure of Microfinance Institutions," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 47(3), pages 313-340, June.
    9. Alexandra M. Tabova, 2013. "Portfolio diversification and the cross-sectional distribution of foreign investment," International Finance Discussion Papers 1091, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    10. Hartarska, Valentina M., 2006. "Rating in Microfinance: Cross-Country Evidence," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25506, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Elizabeth Asiedu & James Freeman, 2009. "The Effect of Corruption on Investment Growth: Evidence from Firms in Latin America, Sub‐Saharan Africa, and Transition Countries," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), pages 200-214, May.
    12. Giovanni Ferri & Li-Gang Liu, 2003. "How Do Global Credit-Rating Agencies Rate Firms from Developing Countries?," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 2(3), pages 30-56.
    13. Giovanni Ferri & Punziana Lacuitignola, 2010. "Does Europe Need Its Own Rating Agencies?," SERIES 0033, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza - Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", revised Jul 2010.
    14. Hartarska, Valentina & Nadolnyak, Denis, 2008. "Does rating help microfinance institutions raise funds? Cross-country evidence," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 558-571, October.
    15. Vincenzo D’Apice & Giovanni Ferri & Punziana Lacitignola, 2016. "Rating Performance and Bank Business Models: Is There a Change with the 2007–2009 Crisis?," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 2(3), pages 385-420, November.
    16. Luitel, Prabesh & Vanpée, Rosanne & De Moor, Lieven, 2016. "Pernicious effects: How the credit rating agencies disadvantage emerging markets," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 286-298.

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    JEL classification:

    • G2 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services
    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance

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