The Effect of Credit Rating Actions on European Government Bonds

This paper examines the effect of credit rating announcements released by the three major rating agencies on European government bonds by looking at one key area and three interrelated topics. Firstly I evaluate the impact of credit rating announcements on European government bond returns. Secondly I appraise their effect on the slope of the sovereign yield curve. Thirdly I assess the implications of the European sovereign debt crisis on the credit rating announcement effect. Fourthly I analyse how rating changes influence government bond abnormal returns depending on the country''s membership of the Eurozone or not and whether the country is in the Peripheral area or not.