The rating decision and the determinants of credit ratings: A UK empirical investigation

This study examines the determinants of the decision of UK non-financial companies to solicit a credit rating drawing upon the information asymmetry, signalling, agency and default literature. The paper extends the current literature on the determinants of corporate credit ratings by including key non-financial variables. The rating likelihood models are able to distinguish between rated and non-rated companies satisfactorily. Moreover, the...