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State ownership and the cost of debt: Evidence from corporate bond issuances in China

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  • Ge, Yao
  • Liu, Yangshu
  • Qiao, Zheng
  • Shen, Zhe

Abstract

Corporate credit risk can be reduced through implicit government guarantees. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China provide a distinctive setting to investigate government roles in corporate debt financing. We find that non-SOEs’ corporate bond issuance costs are significantly higher than those of SOEs. We also observe relatively lower bond issuance costs for firms controlled by the central government (CSOEs) than those controlled by local governments (LSOEs). In addition, we demonstrate that compared with SOEs, non-SOEs’ financial constraints are mitigated to a larger extent after the bond issuances. Overall, we show that state ownership plays an important role in determining corporate bond issuance costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Ge, Yao & Liu, Yangshu & Qiao, Zheng & Shen, Zhe, 2020. "State ownership and the cost of debt: Evidence from corporate bond issuances in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:52:y:2020:i:c:s0275531919308888
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2019.101164
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    5. Huang, Xiaoyong & Yu, Cong & Chen, Yunping & Jia, Fei & Xu, Xiangyun, 2022. "Rigid payment breaking, default spread and yields of Chinese treasury bonds," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    State ownership; Implicit guarantee; Bond issuance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies

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