For decades credit rating agencies were viewed as trusted arbiters of creditworthiness and their ratings as important …

We analyze a model where investors use a credit rating to decide whether to finance a firm. The rating quality depends … on unobservable effort exerted by a credit rating agency (CRA). We study optimal compensation schemes for the CRA when a … planner, the firm, or investors order the rating. Rating errors are larger when the firm orders it than when investors do (and …

studies the credit rating crisis of 2007-2008 and in particular describes the collapse of the credit ratings of ABS CDOs …

This paper explores the economic role credit rating agencies play in the corporate bond market. We consider three … existing theories about multiple ratings: information production, rating shopping and regulatory certification. Using … differences in rating composition, default prediction and credit spread changes, our evidence only supports regulatory …

interest of Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs). We model both the CRA conflict of understating credit risk to attract more business … (conditional on the same equilibrium CRA rating policy) than having a monopoly CRA, in terms of both total ex-ante surplus and … payments for rating services (before CRAs propose a rating to the issuer) combined with mandatory disclosure of any rating …

rating analysts to party affiliations from voter records, we show that analysts who are not affiliated with the U …. We also find a sharp divergence in the rating actions of Democratic and Republican analysts around the 2016 presidential …

The credit rating industry has historically been dominated by just two agencies, Moody's and S&P, leading to … longstanding legislative and regulatory calls for increased competition. The material entry of a third rating agency (Fitch) to the … ratings market. Increased competition from Fitch coincides with lower quality ratings from the incumbents: rating levels went …

from the rise of liability insurance provided by rating agencies. Underwriters have given up their former role as …

In February 2003, the SEC officially certified a fourth credit rating agency, Dominion Bond Rating Service (quot …'s DBRS rating relative to its ratings from other certified rating agencies. A one notch better DBRS rating corresponds to a … 39 basis point reduction in a firm's debt cost of capital. The impact on yields is driven by cases where the DBRS rating …