Ashcraft, A.; Goldsmith-Pinkham, P.; Vickery, J. - Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research - 2010
We study credit ratings on subprime and Alt-A mortgage-backed securities (MBS) deals issued between 2001 and 2007, the period leading up to the subprime crisis. The fraction of highly-rated securities in each deal is decreasing in mortgage credit risk (measured either ex-ante or ex-post),...