Corporate green bond issuances: An international evidence

• Published in: IDEAS Working Paper Series from RePEc 2020-02, Vol.13 (2), p.1-21
• Main Authors: Lebelle, Martin, Lajili Jarjir, Souad, Sassi, Syrine
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bond issues; Business models; Capital expenditures; Capital markets; Carbon; Climate change; Development banks; Economics and Finance; Energy industry; Environmental impact; Environmental policy; event study; Evolution; financial innovation; green bond market; green bonds; Humanities and Social Sciences; Investments; Quantitative Finance; Renewable resources; Securities markets; Stock exchanges; sustainable investment
• ISSN: 1911-8074; 1911-8066; 1911-8074
• DOI: 10.3390/jrfm13020025

Using an international sample of corporate Green bond issuances over the recent period, this paper highlights the potential consequences of the issuance of a Green bond on the issuer's financial performance. Starting with a first sample of 2079 Green bond issuances of 190 unique issuers from 2009 to 2018, we investigate only corporate green bond issuances. Our final sample contains 475 green bonds issued by 145 unique firms. We find that the market reacts negatively to the announcement of green bond issuances. In particular, results show that the stock market reacts on the day of the green bond announcement date and the day after, and that the cumulative abnormal return is between −0.5% and −0.2%, depending on the asset pricing model (CAPM, the 3-factor Fama and French models, and the 4-factor Carhart models). This effect is mainly noticeable at the first Green Bond issuance and in developed markets. Our results provide evidence that the investors react in the same manner for Green bonds as for conventional or convertible bonds. This evidence suggests that green debt offerings convey unfavorable information about the issuing firms.