Using a comprehensive set of firms from 57 countries over the 2000–2016 period, we examine the relation between institutional investor horizons and firm-level credit ratings. Controlling for firm- and country-specific factors, as well as for firm fixed effects, we find that larger long-term...

In this study, we use board reforms across countries as a natural experiment to examine the effect of governance on firm leverage. We find that board reforms are associated with a statistically significant 1 percentage point increase in leverage overall, and a 5 percentage point increase on...

Using panel data on S&P's credit ratings for firms from 63 countries over the 2000–2016 period, we uncover divergent patterns in the rating standards over time. Standards strengthen by 1.5 notches for U.S. firms and by 2.2 notches for other developed country firms, but weaken by 1.2 notches...

We investigate ratings quality across uncertain and normal times proxied by variations in economic policy uncertainty. We find that increased policy uncertainty is associated with weaker rating standards. This finding is unrelated to variations in macroeconomic conditions and holds when we use...