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The impact of credit ratings on corporate behavior: Evidence from Moody's adjustments

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  • Kisgen, Darren J.

Abstract

Moody's adjusts a firm's reported leverage across several dimensions to determine credit ratings. I find that changes to this adjustment methodology affect firm capital structure and investment decisions. In particular, in 2006, Moody's made several changes to its adjustment methodologies, which are arguably exogenous to changes in firm fundamentals. I show these changes significantly affect adjustments for firms in this year. I then show that these changes to adjustments in 2006 affect capital structure and investment decisions in 2007, especially for those firms with greatest exposure to the methodology changes. These results show that rating agencies have the power to affect corporate decisions.

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  • Kisgen, Darren J., 2019. "The impact of credit ratings on corporate behavior: Evidence from Moody's adjustments," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 567-582.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:58:y:2019:i:c:p:567-582
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2019.07.002
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    Cited by:

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    4. Wojewodzki, Michal & Boateng, Agyenim & Brahma, Sanjukta, 2020. "Credit rating, banks' capital structure and speed of adjustment: A cross-country analysis," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    5. Egidijus Bikas & Evelina Glinskytė, 2021. "Financial Factors Determining the Investment Behavior of Lithuanian Business Companies," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-19, April.
    6. Jackowicz, Krzysztof & Kozłowski, Łukasz & Podgórski, Błażej & Winkler-Drews, Tadeusz, 2020. "Do political connections shield from negative shocks? Evidence from rating changes in advanced emerging economies," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    7. Emmanuel Alanis & Janet Payne & Joerg Picard, 2020. "Managing For Ratings: Real Effects Of A Corporate Ratings Criteria Change," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 43(4), pages 821-845, December.
    8. 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.
    9. 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).
    10. Abad, Pilar & Díaz, Antonio & Escribano, Ana & Robles, M.-Dolores, 2021. "Crossing boundaries beyond the investment grade: Induced trading by rating-contingent investment constraints," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    11. Forte, Santiago & Lovreta, Lidija, 2023. "Credit default swaps, the leverage effect, and cross-sectional predictability of equity and firm asset volatility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    12. D’Mello, Ranjan & Gruskin, Mark, 2021. "To be or not to be all-equity for firms that eliminate long-term debt," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 183-206.
    13. Helmut Wasserbacher & Martin Spindler, 2024. "Credit Ratings: Heterogeneous Effect on Capital Structure," Papers 2406.18936, arXiv.org.
    14. Richter, Sylvia & Heyde, Frank & Horsch, Andreas & Wünsche, Andreas, 2021. "Determinants of project bond prices – Insights into infrastructure and energy capital markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
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    16. Kim, Seonhyeon & Thompson, Ephraim Kwashie & Kim, Changki, 2023. "Credit rating and managerial behavior in investment decision making: Evidence from the Korean market," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Credit ratings; Capital structure; Leverage; Debt;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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