Doctoral thesis of Philosophy: Corporate bond rating changes, cross-market information transfer and the spillover effect in the United Kingdom

Corporate bond ratings published by rating agencies play an important role for both companies and market participants because they provide information about the quality and marketability of various bond issues. For this reason, the rating changes announced by rating agencies must be carefully examined to assess their relevance and usefulness to market participants. The overall objective of this study is to examine whether bond rating changes announcements contain pricing-relevant information, and this objective is supported by six specific aims.