We exploit a criteria change by Standard & Poor's (S&P) to examine the real effects of a credit ratings change. Using a recalibration by S&P, unrelated to firms’ fundamentals, as a quasi‐natural experiment we analyze the impact of a ratings upgrade on the issuance activity, investment, cash holdings, and payout policy of companies. Our findings suggest upgraded firms subsequently issue more debt relative to equity, enjoy lower debt yields, and increase their investment rate and share repurchases. We find limited evidence that upgraded firms decrease their cash holdings. Our results support the view that credit ratings have a real effect on corporations.

中文翻译：

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评级管理：公司评级标准变更的真实效果

我们利用标准普尔（S＆P）的标准变更来检查信用评级变更的实际影响。使用标准普尔（S＆P）进行的与公司基本面无关的重新校准，作为一项准自然实验，我们分析了评级上调对公司发行活动，投资，现金持有和公司支付政策的影响。我们的研究结果表明，升级后的公司随后发行的股本相对于股本会更多，债务收益率更低，并会增加投资率和股票回购。我们发现有限的证据表明升级后的公司减少了现金持有量。我们的结果支持以下观点：信用评级对公司具有真正的影响。