Standards, Reputational Costs and Market Share: Empirical Evidence from the Credit Rating Industry

Authors

  • Puneet Prakash Missouri State University, Springfield
  • Nanda K. Rangan Virginia Commonwealth University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33423/jaf.v20i3.3008

Keywords:

Accounting, Finance, Credit, Ratings, Risk, Market Share, Reputational Costs

Abstract

We examine the joint effect of average default risk and uncertainty on behavior of rating agencies. We find when average default risk rises in the economy standards weaken but a simultaneous increase in uncertainty causes the standards to tighten more. The net effect is the documented conservatism in ratings. A trade-off between short term gains in market share and long term costs to reputation provides a consistent explanation for these findings.

Downloads

Published

2020-08-23

How to Cite

Prakash, P., & Rangan, N. K. (2020). Standards, Reputational Costs and Market Share: Empirical Evidence from the Credit Rating Industry. Journal of Accounting and Finance, 20(3). https://doi.org/10.33423/jaf.v20i3.3008

Issue

Section

Articles