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Rating friends: The effect of personal connections on credit ratings

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  • Khatami, Seyed Hossein
  • Marchica, Maria-Teresa
  • Mura, Roberto

Abstract

Using a large sample of US public debt issues we show that personal connections between directors of issuing companies and rating agencies result in higher credit ratings. We estimate the average effect to be about one notch. Moreover, our tests indicate that issues by connected firms are 30% more likely to be rated A3. Results are robust to several alternative tests including additional controls for managerial traits, firm fixed effects, and propensity score matching. Furthermore, our tests on default rates and bond yields suggest that personal connections act as a mechanism to reduce asymmetric information between the rating agency and the issuer.

Suggested Citation

  • Khatami, Seyed Hossein & Marchica, Maria-Teresa & Mura, Roberto, 2016. "Rating friends: The effect of personal connections on credit ratings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 222-241.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:39:y:2016:i:c:p:222-241
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2016.04.006
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    Cited by:

    1. Klusak, Patrycja & Thornton, John & Uymaz, Yurtsev, 2020. "Do personal connections improve sovereign credit ratings?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).
    2. Bhattacharya, Utpal & Wei, Kelsey D. & Xia, Han, 2019. "Follow the money: Investor trading around investor-paid credit rating changes," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 68-91.
    3. Altdörfer, Marc & Guettler, Andre & Löffler, Gunter, 2024. "Analyst distance and credit rating consistency," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    4. Andrea Fracasso & Valentina Peruzzi & Chiara Tomasi, 2024. "Multiple banking relationships: the role of firm connectedness," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 33(5), pages 1231-1252.
    5. Bing Xu & Jingwen Yang & Bifei Sun, 2018. "A nonparametric decision approach for entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 5-14, March.
    6. Georgios Chortareas & Fangyuan Kou & Alexia Ventouri, 2024. "Corporate pollution and reputational exposure," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(2), pages 149-178, May.
    7. James, Hui Liang & Wang, Hongxia & Xie, Yamin, 2018. "Busy directors and firm performance: Does firm location matter?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-37.
    8. Bao, Xin & Han, Meini & Lau, Raymond & Xu, Xiaowei, 2024. "Corporate integrity culture and credit rating assessment," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    9. Bhandari, Avishek & Golden, Joanna, 2021. "CEO political preference and credit ratings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    10. Papadimitri, Panagiota & Pasiouras, Fotios & Tasiou, Menelaos & Ventouri, Alexia, 2020. "The effects of board of directors’ education on firms’ credit ratings," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 294-313.
    11. Alzayed, Noora & Batiz-Lazo, Bernardo & Eskandari, Rasol, 2024. "Does board diversity mitigate risk? The effect of homophily and social ties on risk-taking in financial institutions," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PA).
    12. Dong, Yi & Hou, Qiannan & Ni, Chenkai, 2021. "Implicit government guarantees and credit ratings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    13. Klusak, Patrycja & Uymaz, Yurtsev & Alsakka, Rasha, 2024. "Politicians’ connections and sovereign credit ratings," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    14. Nguyen, Quan M.P. & Do, Hung Xuan & Molchanov, Alexander & Nguyen, Lily & Nguyen, Nhut H., 2023. "Political similarities in credit ratings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    15. Hossain, Md Miran & Mammadov, Babak & Vakilzadeh, Hamid, 2024. "Friends in media: Implications of media connections for analyst forecast optimism," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    16. Jackowicz, Krzysztof & Kozłowski, Łukasz, 2019. "Social ties between SME managers and bank employees: Financial consequences vs. SME managers' perceptions," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 1-1.
    17. Singh, Amanjot & Singh, Harminder, 2022. "Insiders' stock pledging disclosures and credit ratings: Evidence from India," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Executive and director networks; Credit rating; Asymmetric information;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation

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