Sovereign credit ratings: reframing the orthodox paradigm

This dissertation makes an inquiry into the contested and variegated perspectives of the determinants of sovereign credit ratings given the need to understand both orthodox and unorthodox narratives which drive sovereign rating assessments. Unlike prior studies on sovereign ratings, this dissertatio...

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Main Author: Choy, Swee Yew
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/61465/
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author Choy, Swee Yew
author_facet Choy, Swee Yew
author_sort Choy, Swee Yew
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This dissertation makes an inquiry into the contested and variegated perspectives of the determinants of sovereign credit ratings given the need to understand both orthodox and unorthodox narratives which drive sovereign rating assessments. Unlike prior studies on sovereign ratings, this dissertation employs a novel approach through exploratory factor analysis, a dimension reduction approach and quantitative grounded theory to distill key factors influencing sovereign ratings. Furthermore, conventional research on sovereign ratings adopt an orthodox and limited selection of variables in their regression analysis, whereas this dissertation engages a large variable set before selecting significant variables through panel regression analysis. The relevance of both the factor approach and the use of unorthodox variables which differ from existing academic literature is validated by methodologies applied by the major credit rating agencies. The results of the panel regression and exploratory factor analysis in this research are systematically compared against existing literature, in order to categorise both orthodox and unorthodox factors and variables, forming a structured basis for theory generation. Consequently, the amalgamation of the empirical results through quantitative grounded theory develop a novel paradigm of sovereign credit ratings, expanding the scope of narratives influencing its determinants. The results suggest methodological refinements in approaching sovereign ratings need to be made. Furthermore, sovereign ratings prioritise the factors of external financial strength, institutional and socio-political quality over other factors. Among others, the discovered unorthodox narratives which influence sovereign ratings include public sector financial health and banking system quality.
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spelling nottingham-614652025-02-28T15:02:35Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/61465/ Sovereign credit ratings: reframing the orthodox paradigm Choy, Swee Yew This dissertation makes an inquiry into the contested and variegated perspectives of the determinants of sovereign credit ratings given the need to understand both orthodox and unorthodox narratives which drive sovereign rating assessments. Unlike prior studies on sovereign ratings, this dissertation employs a novel approach through exploratory factor analysis, a dimension reduction approach and quantitative grounded theory to distill key factors influencing sovereign ratings. Furthermore, conventional research on sovereign ratings adopt an orthodox and limited selection of variables in their regression analysis, whereas this dissertation engages a large variable set before selecting significant variables through panel regression analysis. The relevance of both the factor approach and the use of unorthodox variables which differ from existing academic literature is validated by methodologies applied by the major credit rating agencies. The results of the panel regression and exploratory factor analysis in this research are systematically compared against existing literature, in order to categorise both orthodox and unorthodox factors and variables, forming a structured basis for theory generation. Consequently, the amalgamation of the empirical results through quantitative grounded theory develop a novel paradigm of sovereign credit ratings, expanding the scope of narratives influencing its determinants. The results suggest methodological refinements in approaching sovereign ratings need to be made. Furthermore, sovereign ratings prioritise the factors of external financial strength, institutional and socio-political quality over other factors. Among others, the discovered unorthodox narratives which influence sovereign ratings include public sector financial health and banking system quality. 2021-02-24 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/61465/1/PhD%20dissertation%2011082020%20-%20CHOY%20Swee%20Yew.pdf Choy, Swee Yew (2021) Sovereign credit ratings: reframing the orthodox paradigm. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. sovereign credit ratings rating agencies country debt
spellingShingle sovereign credit ratings
rating agencies
country debt
Choy, Swee Yew
Sovereign credit ratings: reframing the orthodox paradigm
title Sovereign credit ratings: reframing the orthodox paradigm
title_full Sovereign credit ratings: reframing the orthodox paradigm
title_fullStr Sovereign credit ratings: reframing the orthodox paradigm
title_full_unstemmed Sovereign credit ratings: reframing the orthodox paradigm
title_short Sovereign credit ratings: reframing the orthodox paradigm
title_sort sovereign credit ratings: reframing the orthodox paradigm
topic sovereign credit ratings
rating agencies
country debt
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/61465/