IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i21p14086-d956637.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do Rating Change Announcements Transfer Effective Information? Test on the Effectiveness and Sustainability of Credit Rating in China

Author

Listed:
  • Ke Sun

    (School of Economics, Jiaxing University, Jiaxing 314001, China)

Abstract

China is commonly viewed as a country with weak legal institutions and disclosure regulations. The validity and effectiveness of credit rating in China are controversial topics. Bond ratings provide information about the quality and marketability of bond issues. This paper studies the effects of rating change announcements on the price of fixed-income enterprise bonds to test the effectiveness and sustainability of credit rating in China. The results show that upgrade and downgrade announcements have an asymmetric effect on bond prices. Downgrade announcements have transferred new information to the market, resulting in statistically significant negative effects, yet upgrade announcements do not have statistically obvious effects on bond prices. That the average cumulative abnormal returns two days before and on the day of the announcement are statistically insignificant implies that the rating information might not be leaked out before the announcement. The results indicate that the pricing function of credit rating has taken effect, and the effectiveness of the market has been improved over the years. The strengthening of regulations and supervision of the Chinese government toward the credit rating industry may help reinforce the sustainability of the industry and the bond market. The cross-sectional results suggest the market responses are more intense to unpredicted changes of ratings, and investors and portfolio managers should pay more attention to the bonds that have been downgraded for several levels from initial ratings.

Suggested Citation

  • Ke Sun, 2022. "Do Rating Change Announcements Transfer Effective Information? Test on the Effectiveness and Sustainability of Credit Rating in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-15, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:21:p:14086-:d:956637
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/21/14086/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/21/14086/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jie He & Jun Qian & Philip E. Strahan, 2011. "Credit Ratings and the Evolution of the Mortgage-Backed Securities Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 131-135, May.
    2. 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.
    3. Bar-Isaac, Heski & Shapiro, Joel, 2013. "Ratings quality over the business cycle," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 62-78.
    4. Katz, Steven, 1974. "The Price Adjustment Process of Bonds to Rating Reclassifications: A Test of Bond Market Efficiency," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 29(2), pages 551-559, May.
    5. Finnerty, John D. & Miller, Cameron D. & Chen, Ren-Raw, 2013. "The impact of credit rating announcements on credit default swap spreads," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 2011-2030.
    6. Livingston, Miles & Poon, Winnie P.H. & Zhou, Lei, 2018. "Are Chinese credit ratings relevant? A study of the Chinese bond market and credit rating industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 216-232.
    7. Louis H. Ederington & Jess B. Yawitz & Brian E. Roberts, 1987. "The Informational Content Of Bond Ratings," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 10(3), pages 211-226, September.
    8. Raghav Dhawan & Fan Yu, 2015. "Are Credit Ratings Relevant in China’s Corporate Bond Market?," Chinese Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(3), pages 235-250, May.
    9. Jiang, John (Xuefeng) & Harris Stanford, Mary & Xie, Yuan, 2012. "Does it matter who pays for bond ratings? Historical evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(3), pages 607-621.
    10. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    11. Becker, Bo & Milbourn, Todd, 2011. "How did increased competition affect credit ratings?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 493-514, September.
    12. Wang, Yuyue & Fang, Hongyan & Luo, Ronghua, 2022. "Does state ownership affect rating quality? Evidence from China's corporate bond market," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    13. James W. Wansley & Terrence M. Clauretie, 1985. "The Impact Of Creditwatch Placement On Equity Returns And Bond Prices," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 8(1), pages 31-42, March.
    14. Hu, Xiaolu & Shi, Jing & Wang, Lafang & Yu, Jing, 2020. "Foreign ownership in Chinese credit ratings industry: Information revelation or certification?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    15. Jiang, Xianfeng & Packer, Frank, 2019. "Credit ratings of Chinese firms by domestic and global agencies: Assessing the determinants and impact," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 178-193.
    16. Bush, Chunping, 2022. "The Chinese credit rating industry: Internationalisation, challenges and reforms," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    17. Miles Livingston & Lei Zhou, 2016. "Information Opacity And Fitch Bond Ratings," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 39(4), pages 329-358, December.
    18. Jess Cornaggia & Kimberly J. Cornaggia, 2013. "Estimating the Costs of Issuer-Paid Credit Ratings," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(9), pages 2229-2269.
    19. Ismailescu, Iuliana & Kazemi, Hossein, 2010. "The reaction of emerging market credit default swap spreads to sovereign credit rating changes," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 2861-2873, December.
    20. Dimitrov, Valentin & Palia, Darius & Tang, Leo, 2015. "Impact of the Dodd-Frank act on credit ratings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(3), pages 505-520.
    21. Richard Cantor & Frank Packer, 1996. "Determinants and impact of sovereign credit ratings," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 2(Oct), pages 37-53.
    22. Alessandro Lizzeri, 1999. "Information Revelation and Certification Intermediaries," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 30(2), pages 214-231, Summer.
    23. Mahir Binici & Michael M Hutchison & Evan Weicheng Miao, 2018. "Are credit rating agencies discredited? Measuring market price effects from agency sovereign debt announcements," BIS Working Papers 704, Bank for International Settlements.
    24. Hu, Xiaolu & Huang, Haozhi & Pan, Zheyao & Shi, Jing, 2019. "Information asymmetry and credit rating: A quasi-natural experiment from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 132-152.
    25. May, Anthony D., 2010. "The impact of bond rating changes on corporate bond prices: New evidence from the over-the-counter market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(11), pages 2822-2836, November.
    26. Angerer, Martin & Herrmann-Romero, Matthias & Szymczak, Wiebke, 2022. "Losing funds or losing face? Reputation and accountability in the credit rating industry," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    27. Huang, Yu-Li & Shen, Chung-Hua, 2019. "What role does the investor-paid rating agency play in China? Competitor or information provider," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 253-272.
    28. 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.
    29. Poon, Winnie P.H. & Chan, Kam C., 2008. "An empirical examination of the informational content of credit ratings in China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(7), pages 790-797, July.
    30. Xia, Han, 2014. "Can investor-paid credit rating agencies improve the information quality of issuer-paid rating agencies?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 450-468.
    31. Xianfeng Jiang & Frank Packer, 2017. "Credit ratings of domestic and global agencies: What drives the differences in China and how are they priced?," BIS Working Papers 648, Bank for International Settlements.
    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. Wenming Xu & Yan Liu, 2021. "Does reputational capital affect credit rating agencies?: empirical evidence from a natural experiment in China," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 433-468, June.
    2. Liu, Yan, 2023. "Essays on credit rating agencies in China," Other publications TiSEM b54b3315-1185-48b8-aaf8-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Hu, Xiaolu & Huang, Haozhi & Pan, Zheyao & Shi, Jing, 2019. "Information asymmetry and credit rating: A quasi-natural experiment from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 132-152.
    4. Wang, Yuyue & Fang, Hongyan & Luo, Ronghua, 2022. "Does state ownership affect rating quality? Evidence from China's corporate bond market," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    5. Hu, Xiaolu & Shi, Jing & Wang, Lafang & Yu, Jing, 2020. "Foreign ownership in Chinese credit ratings industry: Information revelation or certification?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    6. Berwart, Erik & Guidolin, Massimo & Milidonis, Andreas, 2019. "An empirical analysis of changes in the relative timeliness of issuer-paid vs. investor-paid ratings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 88-118.
    7. Sumit Agarwal & Vincent Y. S. Chen & Weina Zhang, 2016. "The Information Value of Credit Rating Action Reports: A Textual Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(8), pages 2218-2240, August.
    8. Gaurav Dawar & Shivangi Bhatia & Jai Parkash Bindal, 2023. "Does Credit Rating Revisions Affect the Price of Common Stock: A Study of Indian Capital Market," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 11(2), pages 190-209, May.
    9. 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).
    10. Kaveri Krishnan & Sankarshan Basu & Ashok Thampy, 2020. "Has the Global Financial Crisis Changed the Market Response to Credit Ratings? Evidence from an Emerging Market," Journal of Emerging Market Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, vol. 19(1), pages 7-32, April.
    11. Jiang, Xianfeng & Packer, Frank, 2019. "Credit ratings of Chinese firms by domestic and global agencies: Assessing the determinants and impact," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 178-193.
    12. Valentina Bruno & Jess Cornaggia & Kimberly J. Cornaggia, 2016. "Does Regulatory Certification Affect the Information Content of Credit Ratings?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(6), pages 1578-1597, June.
    13. Drago, Danilo & Gallo, Raffaele, 2016. "The impact and the spillover effect of a sovereign rating announcement on the euro area CDS market," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 264-286.
    14. Attig, Najah & Driss, Hamdi & El Ghoul, Sadok, 2021. "Credit ratings quality in uncertain times," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    15. Abad, Pilar & Ferreras, Rodrigo & Robles, M-Dolores, 2019. "Informational role of rating revisions after reputational events and regulation reforms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 91-103.
    16. Xiaolu Hu & Haoyi Luo & Zijin Xu & Jiang Li, 2021. "Intra‐industry spill‐over effect of default: Evidence from the Chinese bond market," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(3), pages 4703-4740, September.
    17. Patrick Behr & Darren J. Kisgen & Jérôme P. Taillard, 2018. "Did Government Regulations Lead to Inflated Credit Ratings?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(3), pages 1034-1054, March.
    18. Hung, Mingyi & Kraft, Pepa & Wang, Shiheng & Yu, Gwen, 2022. "Market power and credit rating standards: Global evidence," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2).
    19. Gabriela Kuvikova, 2015. "Credit Ratings and Their Information Value: Evidence from the Recent Financial Crisis," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp544, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    20. Krystyniak, Karolina & Staneva, Viktoriya, 2024. "The myth of tightening credit rating standards in the market for corporate debt," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).

    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:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:21:p:14086-:d:956637. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.