Party school CEO and credit ratings: evidence from Chinese state-owned-enterprises

This paper examines whether credit rating agencies consider CEOs with Party school education as a risk factor in credit assessments using Chinese SOEs data from 2006 to 2020. Our findings suggest Party school CEOs are associated with higher credit ratings and exhibit lower risk-taking, resulting in less volatile performance. This research offers initial evidence on the benefits and costs of hiring politically connected CEOs, specifically Party school-educated ones.