Impacts of firm life cycle on bond ratings and yields
研究了企业生命周期如何影响公开债券的评级和债务成本，发现初创和衰退期企业的评级更低、收益率更高，而增长和成熟期企业债务成本更低。
Abstract We examine how firm life cycle affects ratings and costs of debt for public offers. We find that ratings for issuers in the introduction and decline stages are lower than those for growth and mature issuers. A similar U‐shaped relation between life stage and yield spread, after controlling for credit rating, indicates that life stage affects cost of debt through multiple channels. Costs of debt are lower for growth and mature issuers than for introduction and decline issuers. Analyses of high‐yield bonds and term to maturity suggest that the adverse effect on costs of debt for introduction and decline firms is associated with their elevated riskiness and greater information asymmetry.