Credit ratings and firm life-cycle

Abstract

Credit ratings display an inverse U-shaped relation over the corporate life-cycle. Firms’ likelihood to obtain a rating initially increases over the life-cycle as reputation increases and asymmetric information is reduced. As investment opportunities diminish during the shakeout and decline phases the benefit of having a rating decreases. The economic effect is substantial: transitioning from the introduction to the growth phase increases the rating likelihood from 6.7% to 30%.