GREEN BONDS REPRESENTING GREEN FINANCE IN EUROPE – BASIC CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

This study examines whether there is a negative green bond premium for investors in the secondary European market. To answer this question, the matched pairs method is applied, where the daily i-spreads of green bonds and the interpolated daily i-spreads of similar non-green bonds are compared. The bond sample contains 37 bond couples issued by corporations, financial institutions and governments between November 2019 and April 2020. The findings suggest that there is an average statistically significant negative very small green bond premium. The negative premium could be explained by investors’ preferences for green financial instruments leading to excess demand. The negative green bond premium may also be a compensation for the issuer’s external costs or reflect the internalization of environmental externalities. Further evidence shows that the negative green bond premium varies across industries and is not higher for lower rated investment grade bonds.