Because of the growing complexity of financial markets and the securities they offer, rating firms are increasingly taking on the role of regulators and rule makers as well as judges. Ratings become negotiable as corporations structure their deals to accommodate the demands of the raters and thereby get the ratings they need (Monroe 1986).

XREF: Connects to critiques of rating agencies in the 2008 financial crisis, where ratings-driven deal structuring amplified systemic risk.

Shapiro, Susan P., The Social Control of Imper…, loc. 105