회사채 신용등급을 보유한 IPO 기업의 이익조정과 주식성과

This study aims to empirically investigate the impact of corporate bond credit ratings on the agency risk and pricing efficiency of IPO firms in the Korean initial public offering market. We conducted an empirical analysis using a sample of 1,493 newly listed IPOs over the past 21 years, and the results are as follows. First, firms with corporate bond ratings have significantly reduced discretionary accruals in the IPO year compared to firms without ratings. This means that credit analysts’ risk analysis activities play a positive role in limiting opportunistic earnings management by IPO firms. Second, we find that the long-term post-IPO stock performance of firms with corporate bond credit ratings is higher than that of firms without credit ratings. This indicates that information provision and continuous monitoring by credit analysts contribute to the pricing efficiency of IPOs. Third, unlike non-rated firms, the aggressive earnings reporting strategy of IPOs with corporate bond credit ratings did not result in long-term underperformance. This suggests that the upward earnings management of IPO firms with corporate bond credit ratings may reflect management signaling or a reversal of past conservative accounting treatment. Overall, the empirical results show that bond credit ratings positively influence Korean IPO firms’ information efficiency.