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Credit ratings and disclosure channels

Author

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  • Heflin, Frank
  • Shaw, Kenneth W.
  • Wild, John J.

Abstract

We study the relation between analysts’ ratings of firms’ credit worthiness and ratings of the quality of firms’ (1) annual report disclosures, (2) quarterly and other disclosures, and (3) manager-analyst communications. We find that credit ratings are better for firms with higher rated annual report disclosures. We also find that marked increases in analyst ratings of annual report quality are accompanied by improvements in credit ratings. We find no relation between credit ratings and analysts’ ratings of either quarterly report disclosures or management-analyst communications. Overall, the results suggest that a commitment to better annual report disclosure is related to a lower cost of credit capital.

Suggested Citation

  • Heflin, Frank & Shaw, Kenneth W. & Wild, John J., 2011. "Credit ratings and disclosure channels," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 20-33.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reacre:v:23:y:2011:i:1:p:20-33
    DOI: 10.1016/j.racreg.2011.03.004
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    2. Bertrand Hassani & Xin Zhao, 2014. "Reconsidering Corporate Ratings," Post-Print hal-01117683, HAL.
    3. Kang, Helen & Gray, Sidney J., 2019. "Country-specific risks and geographic disclosure aggregation: Voluntary disclosure behaviour by British multinationals," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 259-276.
    4. Bertrand K Hassani & Xin Zhao, 2014. "Reconsidering Corporate Ratings," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 14077, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    5. Bauman, Mark P., 2013. "The adequacy of fixed asset disclosures under U.S. GAAP," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 149-156.
    6. Bianca Raluca BADITOIU & Alexandru BUGLEA & Diana Corina GLIGOR-CIMPOIERU & Valentin Partenie MUNTEANU, 2020. "Csr Disclosure Of Financial European Companies Within Integrated Reports," Proceedings of the INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 14(1), pages 924-938, November.
    7. Bertrand Hassani & Xin Zhao, 2014. "Reconsidering Corporate Ratings," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-01117683, HAL.
    8. Lagrange, Bruce & Viger, Chantal & Anandarajan, Asokan, 2015. "Contingency liabilities: The effect of three alternative reporting styles," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 119-128.
    9. Rupley, Kathleen Hertz & Brown, Darrell & Marshall, Scott, 2017. "Evolution of corporate reporting: From stand-alone corporate social responsibility reporting to integrated reporting," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 172-176.
    10. 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.
    11. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2013-003 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Edmonds, Christopher T. & Edmonds, Jennifer E. & Leece, Ryan D. & Vermeer, Thomas E., 2015. "Do risk management activities impact earnings volatility?," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 66-72.

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