Financial markets present a vast array of non-physical products, each with a price that is not simply dictated by tangible factors but is instead the result of complex interpretations made by market participants. These prices are shaped by the continuous flow of information, ranging from economic data and company earnings reports to geopolitical events and market sentiment. The challenge lies in understanding the myriad sources of this information, how it is processed by various market players, and the mechanisms through which it ultimately influences the valuation of financial products. This intricate relationship between information flow, interpretation, and price formation is the central research question that seeks to unravel the dynamics of financial markets, offering insights into the behavioral and informational forces that drive market movements.

In my research, I focus in particular on the role of credit rating agencies as key providers of credibility information, examining how these rankings affect capital costs, merger & acquisitions, stock and bond prices. Beyond the numerical ratings, I place a strong emphasis on textual information, delving into how language and narrative within financial reports, news articles, and other textual sources can be harnessed to extract reliable indicators. By analyzing these textual elements, I aim to uncover deeper insights into the broader contexts that shape financial markets, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the factors that drive investment decisions and market behaviors.

Relevant research questions in this context involve…

• How does public information affect financial markets?
• What role do credit rating agencies play?
• How can we quantify the information of textual information using natural language processing?

Related Publications

• Kevin Riehl (2024). On the scientometric value of full-text, beyond abstracts and titles: evidence from the business and economic literature. Management Review Quarterly.
• Lukas Müller, Kevin Riehl, Sonja Buschulte, Patrick Weiss (2024). Corporate Bond Market Event Studies: Event-Induced Variance and Liquidity. Preprint in SSRN.
• Florian Kiesel, Kevin Riehl (2023). Acquired Downgrades?. 12th Portuguese Finance Conference (PFN 2023), Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, July 5-7, 2023.
• Florian Kiesel, Kevin Riehl (2023). Acquired Downgrades?. Financial Markets and Corporate Governance Conference (FMCG 2023), Melbourne, Australia, April 12-14, 2023.
• Kevin Riehl, Florian Kiesel, Dirk Schiereck (2022). Political and Socioeconomic Factors That Determine the Financial Outcome of Successful Green Innovation . Sustainability.
• Kevin Riehl, A Sai Kiran, Narendra Miryala (2022). Capturing GreenTech-related Commercial Activities of Listed Companies. Global Business Review.