Dear all,

I have a panel dataset of rated firms and want to study the effect of busyness cycles on credit ratings. I want to use the "xtlogit" command to model ordered ratings as a function of some financial and market variables and a linear trend in addition to a busyness cycles variable. The indicator of busyness cycles is based on the GDP growth such that for the lower third of the yearly growth distribution, it is assigned -1, and for the middle third, it is 0, and for the upper third, it is +1. Now my question is to find the effect of the state of the cycle on ratings. Should I use the variable with the prefix "c."?

I want to see how the state of the busyness cycle affects credit ratings. using the prefix "i."

Thanks in advance.