Do Credit Ratings Determine Capital Structure?

Abstract

This paper examines whether the possession of a credit rating has an impact on firms leverage ratio. The issue of access to alternative sources of debt finance has received special attention in the wake of 2007–2009 financial crisis when banks significantly cut back on loans and firms became credit-constrained. Consequently, policy makers have been examining ways of facilitating access to non-bank finance. An overreliance on bank sourced debt finance when credit markets tighten has the potential to slow down the speed of economic recovery. This paper provides empirical evidence in support of the hypothesis that the possession of a credit rating is associated with higher leverage ratios. The effect for UK firms seems higher than that observed for similar US firms. This might be because there is greater financial transparency in the US implying lower levels of information asymmetry and so negating somewhat the effects of possessing a rating.