“投资人付费”vs.“发行人付费”:谁的信用评级质量更高?  

“Investor-Paid” versus “Issuer-Paid” Credit Ratings: Which One Conveys Better Quality?

作　　者：吴育辉[1] 翟玲玲 张润楠 魏志华[4] WU Yuhui;ZHAI Lingling;ZHANG Runnan;WEI Zhihua(School of Management,Xiamen University;School of Accountancy,Guangdong University of Finance and Economics;FuzhouVanke Co.,Ltd.;School of Economics,Xiamen University)

机构地区：[1]厦门大学管理学院,福建厦门361005 [2]广东财经大学会计学院,广东广州510320 [3]福州市万科发展有限公司,福建福州350000 [4]厦门大学经济学院,福建厦门361005

出　　处：《金融研究》2020年第1期130-149,共20页Journal of Financial Research

基　　金：国家自然科学基金项目(71790601,71372072、71572165.71972163)资助。

摘　　要：本文选择2011-2015年被中债资信覆盖的发债A股上市公司作为主要研究对象,比较了"投资人付费"与"发行人付费"模式下的评级质量高低。研究发现:(1)与"发行人付费"评级相比,采用"投资人付费"模式的中债资信所作评级显著更低。(2)与"发行人付费"评级相比,当采用"投资人付费"模式的中债资信所作评级越低时,发行人未来盈利能力越差、预期违约风险越高,投资者要求的风险补偿也越高,这表明"投资人付费"模式下的信用评级质量更高。(3)"发行人付费"模式的评级结果可以在一定程度上反映公司的内部私有信息,但由于同时存在独立性缺失问题,"发行人付费"模式的信用评级质量仍然不如"投资人付费"模式的信用评级质量,这说明独立性对于评级机构尤其重要。Bond rating agencies play a critical role as intermediaries in bond markets by providing information to investors about the default risk of bond issues. A frequent concern regarding the rating process is that the bond issuer generally pays the rating agency, which could compromise the information content of the rating due to a lack of independence. The three major credit rating agencies-Standard & Poor’s(S&P), Moody’s Investor Service(Moody’s), and Fitch-have been heavily criticized since 2002, when they failed to foresee the bankruptcies of Enron and WorldCom. During the recent financial crisis, the major rating agencies were again criticized for not providing accurate ratings for subprime mortgage-backed securities. Critics argue that the issuer-pay revenue model drives the failure of rating agencies, and they blame it for creating potential conflicts of interest and ratings inflation(Livingston et al., 2018;Becker and Milbourn, 2011;Bolton et al., 2012.)A well-established credit rating industry is crucial for a healthy and vigorous bond market. Along with the development of the bond market, the Chinese credit rating industry has experienced significant growth. Major credit rating agencies in China adopted the issuer-paid model from the beginning. Issuer-paid agencies tend to cater to issuers’ interests and understate credit risk, which could lead to less informative ratings. Credit rating agencies in China have faced growing criticism and regulatory pressure for their inability to adequately predict firm defaults. It is widely acknowledged that the ratings provided by major rating agencies lack timeliness and are unresponsive to market-based risk measures.Consequently, investor-paid rating agencies have generated growing attention due to the market’s criticism of issuer-paid raters. On September 29, 2010, China’s first investor-paid agency, the China Bond Rating Corporation(hereafter CBR), was established in Beijing. CBR is funded by the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Invest

关 键 词：信用评级 评级质量 投资人付费 发行人付费 

分 类 号：F832.51[经济管理—金融学]