Have Rating Agencies Become More Conservative? Implications for Capital Structure and Debt Pricing
研究发现1985至2009年间评级机构在分配公司信用评级时变得更加保守，平均评级下降三个等级，而违约率却下降，表明这一变化不完全合理。受影响的公司发行更少债务、杠杆更低、持有更多现金，且债务利差低于同评级未受影响公司，说明市场部分抵消了保守主义对债务价格的影响。
ABSTRACT Rating agencies have become more conservative in assigning corporate credit ratings over the period 1985 to 2009; holding firm characteristics constant, average ratings have dropped by three notches. This change does not appear to be fully warranted because defaults have declined over this period. Firms affected more by conservatism issue less debt, have lower leverage, hold more cash, are less likely to obtain a debt rating, and experience lower growth. Their debt spreads are lower than those of unaffected firms with the same rating, which implies that the market partly undoes the impact of conservatism on debt prices. This evidence suggests that firms and capital markets do not perceive the increase in conservatism to be fully warranted.