Firms may exploit the option of choosing among different rating agencies in order to pick the highest rating offered. This possibility, known as rating shopping, is relatively limited on the US corporate bond market because the two main rating agencies (S&P and Moody's) rate virtually all large...

This study proposes models that can be used as shorthand analysis tools for CDS spreads and CDS spread changes. For this purpose we examine the determinants of CDS spreads and spread changes on a broad database of 718 US firms during the period from early 2002 to early 2013. Contrary to previous...

Merton (1974) suggested a structural model for default prediction which allows using timely information from the equity market. The literature describes several specifications to the application of the model, including methods presumably used by practitioners. However, recent studies demonstrate...

This paper uses a sample of 335 firms participating in strategic alliances in order to re-examine the value creation through strategic alliances. We show that the immediate positive response of stock markets to new strategic alliances is followed by negative abnormal returns. Twenty days after...