We compare the timeliness of the information signals produced by investor-paid credit rating agencies (Egan and Jones), issuer-paid credit rating agencies (Standard and Poor's), and by sell-side equity analysts, and study the predictive power of this information for the bond and equity markets...

We document a negative causal relationship between changes in the analyst coverage of buying firms and their use of trade credit, thus establishing an "information production" hypothesis of trade credit usage. We show that firms use trade credit to a greater extent when the extent of asymmetric...