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Competition and Credit Ratings After the Fall

Author

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  • Sean Flynn

    (Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85281)

  • Andra Ghent

    (University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706)

Abstract

We analyze the entry of new credit rating agencies into structured finance products. Our setting is unique as we study a period in which the incumbents’ reputation was extremely poor and the benefit of more fee income from inflating ratings was low. We find entrants issue higher ratings than incumbents, particularly for interest-only tranches. Using measures of market share that are exogenous to incumbent ratings, we provide suggestive evidence that incumbent rating levels become more generous as entrant market share in a product type increases. We also exploit a feature of structured finance that identifies rating shopping and find that incumbent ratings increase in shopping.

Suggested Citation

  • Sean Flynn & Andra Ghent, 2018. "Competition and Credit Ratings After the Fall," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(4), pages 1672-1692, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:64:y:2018:i:4:p:1672-1692
    DOI: 10.287/mnsc.2016.2604
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Baghai, Ramin & Becker, Bo & Pitschner, Stefan, 2018. "The Private Use of Credit Ratings: Evidence from Mutual Fund Investment Mandates," CEPR Discussion Papers 13418, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Vivian M. van Breemen & Frank J. Fabozzi & Dennis Vink, 2023. "Intensified Competition and The Impact on Credit Ratings in the RMBS market," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(2), pages 51-86, May.
    4. 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.
    5. Baghai, Ramin P. & Becker, Bo, 2020. "Reputations and credit ratings: Evidence from commercial mortgage-backed securities," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(2), pages 425-444.
    6. Vivian M. van Breemen & Frank J. Fabozzi & Mike Nawas & Dennis Vink, 2024. "Creditor protection and credit ratings in the US RMBS market," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(3), pages 267-292, August.
    7. 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.
    8. Vu, Huong & Alsakka, Rasha & ap Gwilym, Owain, 2022. "Does competition improve sovereign credit rating quality?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    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. Lawrence J. White, 2016. "The Credit Rating Agencies: An Analysis through the Lenses of Industrial Organization, Finance, and Regulation," Working Papers 16-02, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    11. John M Griffin & Jordan Nickerson, 2023. "Are CLO Collateral and Tranche Ratings Disconnected?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 36(6), pages 2319-2360.
    12. Lasantha, Ruwan & Tawiah, Vincent & Atif, Muhammad & Puwanenthiren, Prem & Nadarajah, Sivathaasan, 2024. "Unveiling the impact of foreign competition on the bond market: Insights from S&P debt ratings," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    13. Patrycja Klusak & Moritz Kraemer & Huong Vu, 2022. "First‐mover disadvantage: the sovereign ratings mousetrap," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 3-44, February.
    14. Vink, Dennis & Nawas, Mike & van Breemen, Vivian, 2021. "Security design and credit rating risk in the CLO market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    15. Frank Fabozzi & Vivian M. Breemen & Dennis Vink & Mike Nawas & Austin Gengos, 2023. "How much do Investors Rely on Credit Ratings: Empirical evidence from the U.S. and E.U. CLO primary market," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 63(2), pages 221-247, April.
    16. 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).
    17. Lawrence J. White, 2016. "Credit Rating Agencies: An Analysis Through the Lenses of Industrial Organization, Finance and Regulation," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(2), pages 202-226, May.
    18. Anwer S. Ahmed & Dechun Wang & Nina Xu, 2024. "An empirical analysis of the effects of the Dodd–Frank Act on determinants of credit ratings," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1-2), pages 363-397, January.
    19. Yung‐Ling Chi & Sean Flynn, 2022. "The impact of credit rating information on disclosure quality," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 51(1), pages 73-115, March.
    20. Klusak, Patrycja & Alsakka, Rasha & ap Gwilym, Owain, 2019. "The impact of ESMA regulatory identifiers on the quality of ratings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    21. Kraemer, Moritz & Klusak, Patrycja & Vu, Huong, 2020. "First-mover disadvantage - The sovereign ratings mousetrap," CEPS Papers 26352, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    22. Jess N. Cornaggia & Kimberly J. Cornaggia & Ryan D. Israelsen, 2020. "Where the Heart Is: Information Production and the Home Bias," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(12), pages 5532-5557, December.
    23. Chandan Sharma & Archana Singh & Rajan Yadav, 2023. "Impact of Competition in Credit Rating Industry: Evidence From India," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440221, January.
    24. Deng, Kaihua & Qiao, Guannan, 2022. "Triple A default," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).

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