This paper examines the behavior of corporate bond prices during the period surrounding the announcement of a rating change. We find some evidence of price change during the period from 18 to 7 months before the rating change is announced. We find no evidence of any reaction during the 6 months prior to the rating change. We also find little reaction, if any, during the month of the change or for 6 months after the change. This evidence contradicts the recent findings of Katz and Grier and Katz.

In this paper we examine the behavior of the systematic risk of corporate bonds. A model that assumes β is constant is compared with a model that allows systematic risk to vary in a manner consistent with the Black‐Scholes‐Merton Options Pricing Model. This procedure captures some fundamental properties of the movement of bond β and provides a starting point for improved models of the process generating bond returns.

In this paper we examine the behavior of the systematic risk of corporate bonds. A model that assumes β is constant is compared with a model that allows systematic risk to vary in a manner consistent with the Black-Scholes-Merton Options Pricing Model. This procedure captures some fundamental properties of the movement of bond β and provides a starting point for improved models of the process generating bond returns.

We propose a new approach to estimating and testing asset pricing models in the context of a bilinear paradigm introduced by Kruskal [18] . This approach is both simple and at the same time quite general. As an illustration we apply it to the special case of the arbitrage pricing model where the number of factors is pre‐specified. The data appear to be generally in conflict with a five or seven factor representation of the model used by Roll and Ross [30] . When we consider the number of replications of our test and the large number of observations on which it is performed, the frequency with which we reject the three factor APM does not lead us to conclude that this model is unrepresentative of security returns. Further, the rejection of the five and seven factor versions is to be expected if the three factor version is correct. The paradigm gives insight into the appropriate specification of the model and suggests that there may be a small number of economy wide factors that affect security returns.

This paper presents a new methodology, quasilinear estimation, for efficiently estimating economic variables reflected in the prices of corporate securities. For example, ex ante bankruptcy costs are not directly observable, however, if these costs are sufficiently large, then current security prices are affected and bankruptcy costs can be indirectly measured. When bankruptcy costs and other relevant parameters are known, there are many numerical solution techniques that can be used to determine security prices. One technique, the method of lines, is compatible with quasilinear estimation, which has been employed extensively in the physical sciences for the estimation of coefficients in differential equation models. We demonstrate that quasilinear estimation is a potentially reliable and efficient technique for the estimation of corporate bankruptcy costs and the asset variance from security prices.

This paper presents a new methodology, quasilinear estimation, for efficiently estimating economic variables reflected in the prices of corporate securities. For example, ex ante bankruptcy costs are not directly observable, however, if these costs are sufficiently large, then current security prices are affected and bankruptcy costs can be indirectly measured. When bankruptcy costs and other relevant parameters are known, there are many numerical solution techniques that can be used to determine security prices. One technique, the method of lines, is compatible with quasilinear estimation, which has been employed extensively in the physical sciences for the estimation of coefficients in differential equation models. We demonstrate that quasilinear estimation is a potentially reliable and efficient technique for the estimation of corporate bankruptcy costs and the asset variance from security prices.