Hypothesis development
Substantial evidence shows that firms take their credit ratings into account when making capital allocation decisions.
For example, in a survey byGraham and Harvey (2001), chief financial officers identify credit ratings as their second
highest concern when determining capital structure.Hovakimian et al. (2009)show that firms make operating, financing,
and investing decisions based on the objective of achieving an expected credit rating. Prior literature also shows that firms
take actions to regain their credit ratings after downgrades (Kisgen, 2009), as well as to avoid downgrades ex ante (Kisgen,
2006). Firms likely take these actions because they believe that market participants use credit ratings as a key metric in
assessing default risk. When used in this manner, credit ratings serve as a vehicle to reduce information processing costs
for investors.