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Journal of Banking & Finance Vol. 37 No. 11 2013

Sovereign ceilings “lite”? The impact of sovereign ratings on corporate ratings

Eduardo Borensztein1; Kevin Cowan2; Patricio Valenzuela3

1 Inter-American Development Bank · 2 Banco Central de Chile · 3 University of Chile

open access

Abstract

Although credit rating agencies have gradually moved away from a policy of never rating a corporation above the sovereign (the ‘sovereign ceiling’), it appears that sovereign credit ratings remain a significant determinant of corporate credit ratings. We examine this link using data for advanced and emerging economies over the period of 1995–2009. Our main result is that a sovereign ceiling continues to affect the rating of corporations. The results also suggest that the influence of a sovereign ceiling on corporate ratings remains particularly significant in countries where capital account restrictions are still in place and with high political risk.

DOI
10.1016/j.jbankfin.2013.07.006
Volume
37
Issue
11
Pages
4014-4024
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref bibtex:phds-export.bib

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