This paper asks whether the sensitivity of market long-term interest rates and credit ratings is associated with cross-country differences in informal institutions, measured by social trust. We note a number of theoretical mechanisms that could imply that similar objective problems are more...

A rater is paid by a seller, observes a signal about the seller's product, and issues a public cheap-talk rating for potential buyers. I characterize the partition of the rater's information into ratings issued following public payments from the seller to the rater, and ratings issued when the...

Since 2011, Morningstar has issued Morningstar Analyst Ratings on many of the largest mutual funds in the United States. In June 2017, Morningstar launched the Morningstar Quantitative Rating™ to provide a forward‐looking rating on all mutual funds. Morningstar uses a “robo‐rater”...

We analyse whether soliciting multiple ratings leads to lower syndicated loan spreads. Our results document that banks apply, on average, lower spreads to multi-rated firms. This effect depends on the reduction of information asymmetry about borrowers' creditworthiness (information production...

Credit rating agencies originally emerged as private companies offering investors considered opinions on the credit quality of borrowers. But while they continue to perform this function, their role has expanded over time. Credit ratings are now heavily hardwired into financial contracts,...

The growth of securitisation has added a new class of securities to the financial markets. Rating these securities involves evaluating complex risks which are not inherent in conventional market instruments like bonds. This article decomposes the collateral and structural risks involved in...