Sovereign Debts Rating: An Overview Chapter 8 in The Palgrave Handbook of Public Debt and Policy Mix, MacMillan, à paraitre (2026)

Valérie Lelièvre () and Mireille Jaeger ()
Additional contact information
Valérie Lelièvre: BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
Mireille Jaeger: CEREFIGE - Centre Européen de Recherche en Economie Financière et Gestion des Entreprises - UL - Université de Lorraine

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: In this chapter, we examine how rating agencies (CRAs) have developed their methodologies and strategies with regard to sovereign issuers, particularly in the context of the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone (2010-2013) and the crisis affecting the poorest countries since 2020. We analyse how changes in CRA regulations have influenced the performance, transparency and objectivity of sovereign ratings, as well as modifying their impact on the markets of the countries concerned and their procyclical effect. Comparing the assessment of sovereign risk through agency ratings and market risk premiums reveals significant differences in assessment bias. In the case of developed countries, ratings deteriorated only slightly on average between the two crises, adjusting slowly and with a delay to market risk premiums despite a sharp increase in public debt. In contrast, newly but moderately indebted developing countries suffered severe downgrades, which were subsequently justified by an increase in defaults. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that they were subject to negative rating biases. Overall, it seems that CRAs have become more cautious in their ratings and consequently more 'market-following', resulting in a loss of influence on the market and diminished impact on the economies of the rated countries

Keywords: Methods and models of rating by CRAs; Sovereign rating (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Palgrave Macmillan. The Palgrave Handbook of Public Debt and Policy Mix, MacMillan,, In press, algrave Handbook, 9783032125071

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05559652

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().