We predict sovereign ratings for developing countries that do not have risk ratings from agencies such as Fitch, Moody's, and Standard and Poor's. Ratings are important in determining the volume and cost of capital flows to developing countries through international bond, loan, and equity...

Controlling for bond and issuer characteristics, bond spreads are expected to be equal across different legal jurisdictions, and differences are expected to disappear through arbitrage. However, an analysis of 435 U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by 53 emerging market sovereigns during...