这项研究考察了各国政府对美国“三大”信用评级机构——穆迪、标准普尔和惠誉的评级——发布的信用评级下调的反应如何以及为什么不同。谈到信用评级机构在现代全球治理中的作用，本文分析了2018年至2023年间90多个国家针对500多起负面评级行动发布的全球声明数据集。根据相互依存理论，该研究假设，一个国家与美国的关系相对于其他预先存在的联盟、与其他国家的双边关系以及与多边贷款组织的关系的强度会影响政府的反应。该论文发现，一个国家与美国关系的强度与它们在信用评级下调后发布安抚性回应类型承诺经济改革的可能性之间存在相关性。这种倾向可能是由于担心在保护经济和政治联盟的同时安抚美国信用评级机构，特别是在该国依赖美国国际开发署或安全援助的情况下。另一方面，这项研究也部分支持这样一种观点，即与其他国家和/或多边机构有着密切联系的政府，如果提供的金融支持超过了从美国获得的资金，可能会觉得更有权对信用评级下调做出批评性回应。与此同时，收入与响应率之间的联系也被发现，高收入国家对负面信用评级行动作出响应的可能性是低收入国家的四倍多。通过对这段时间内发布的不同回应的深入分析，本研究不仅定量测试了关系强度和回应类型之间的相关性，还考察了一些案例研究，以更深入地了解政府在面临信用评级下调时如何制定回应。

This research examines how and why government responses to credit rating downgrades issued by the “big three” US Credit Rating Agencies (CRA) – Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch Ratings – differ between countries. Touching upon the role of CRAs in modern global governance, this paper analyses a global dataset of statements issued by more than 90 countries in response to over 500 negative rating actions between 2018 and 2023.Drawing upon interdependence theory, the research posits that the strength of a country’s relationship with the US vis-à-vis other pre-existing alliances, partnerships, and relationships with multilateral lenders has an influence on how a government might respond. The paper finds that there is a correlation between a country’s relationship with the US and the likelihood that they issue a placatory response type that promises economic reforms following a credit rating downgrade. The inclination may be driven by concerns over appeasing the US CRAs while safeguarding economic and political alliances, particularly if the country relies on USAID or security assistance. On the other hand, this research also finds partial support for the argument that governments with strong ties to other countries or multilateral institutions that provide financial support in excess of what is received from the US may feel more empowered to issue critical responses to negative rating actions. Meanwhile, a link between income and the response rate is also identified, with high-income countries being over four times more likely to respond to a negative credit rating action than low-income countries.Through thorough analysis of the different responses issued during the time period, this study not only quantitively tests correlations between relationship strength and response type, but also examines numerous case studies to provide a more in-depth understanding of the factors influencing how governments craft responses when faced with adverse rating actions.