경영자능력이 기업의 재무평점 및 신용평점에 미치는 영향

Prior literatures argue that managers’ specific characteristics are associated with firm’s accounting information quality. The main reason for firms to hire able managers is to look forward to make decisions of promising accounting choice. Competent managers have much more knowledge about the firm and industry so that they are likely to successfully disclose firms’ performance by integrating more useful, positive and forward－looking information. Though the managerial ability is one of important factors that affect accounting information, there is no study which investigates the effect of managerial ability on firm’s credit assessment. This study examines the association between managerial ability and financial (credit) score evaluated by credit rating agencies. Following Demerjian et al.(2012), we measure managerial ability using Data Envelopment Analysis. Using 4,766 firm－year data on Korea Stock Exchange for the period of 2001 to 2012, this study finds that managers with high abilities are more likely associated with high level of financial and credit scores. This result implies that competent managers are able to mitigate risk or uncertainty by communicating firm’s valuable information related to managerial activities to investors. Thus, firms with highly able managers enhance their stability, liquidity, and profitability and can raise financial reliability or credit ratings. This paper could contribute to the literature by providing the results of relation between managerial ability and firm’s financial credibility. Also, the results extend the prior literature on firm’s credit evaluation by providing evidence that manager－level characteristic may affect firm－level credit score.