Corporate financing and anticipated credit rating changes

Chi-Hsiou Hung, Anurag Banerjee () and Qingrui Meng ()
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Qingrui Meng: Durham University

Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 2017, vol. 48, issue 4, No 2, 893-915

Abstract: Abstract Firm circumstances change but rating agencies may not make timely revisions to their ratings, thereby increasing information asymmetry between firms and the market. We examine whether firms time the securities market before a credit rating agency publicly reveals its decision to change a firm’s credit rating. Using quarterly data, we show that firms adjust their financing structures before credit rating downgrades are publicly revealed. Specifically, firms on average increase their debt financing by 1.29 % before the disclosure of a rating downgrade, and this increase is due to the issuance of debt rather than the repurchase of equity. In contrast, firms do not take significant financing actions before credit rating upgrades.

Keywords: Credit rating downgrades; Credit rating upgrades; Information asymmetry; Capital structure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G24 G32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11156-016-0571-3

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