Third, fifty-four percent of the public issuers have investment-grade rating, while only
five percent of the bank borrowers and less than two percent of the private borrowers do, all
significantly different at 1%. Again, if we do not consider the firms without existing rating,
seventy-five percent of the public issuers have investment-grade rating, versus twenty percent of
the bank borrowers, and only less than seven percent of the private borrowers, all significantly
different at 1%.
Finally, if we consider the availability of commercial paper rating as an indicator of
highest credit quality, more than forty percent of the public issuers have commercial paper
rating, while this is true for only 2.6 percent of the bank borrowers, and 1.7 percent of the private
borrowers.