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The Economics of the Greenium: How Much is the World Willing to Pay to Save the Earth?

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Lau

    (Hong Kong Monetary Authority)

  • Angela Sze

    (Hong Kong Monetary Authority)

  • Wilson Wan

    (Hong Kong Monetary Authority)

  • Alfred Wong

    (Hong Kong Monetary Authority)

Abstract

Sadly, not much. This paper provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of the greenium, the price premium the investor pays for green bonds over conventional bonds. We explain in simple economic terms why the price premium of a green bond essentially represents a combination of the non-pecuniary environmental benefit of the bond, as perceived by the investor, and the effective cost of issuing it, as measured by the additional issuing costs of the bond netted off a range of monetary and non-monetary benefits associated with the issuance. Our empirical model decomposes the greenium into a time-varying market component which is common to all green bonds and an idiosyncratic component which is specific to a certain green bond itself. Using the largest global green bond dataset compared to any previous studies, we find that the greenium on average amounts to, sadly, just over one basis point. However, it varies quite significantly among individual green bonds and our result suggests that a key factor underlying the variation is that they are subject to the risk of greenwashing to different extents.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Lau & Angela Sze & Wilson Wan & Alfred Wong, 2022. "The Economics of the Greenium: How Much is the World Willing to Pay to Save the Earth?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 81(2), pages 379-408, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:81:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s10640-021-00630-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-021-00630-5
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    Cited by:

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    2. Naima Lassoued & Imen Khanchel & Cyrine Khiari, 2024. "Pollution control bonds and overinvestment in utility companies: Does ownership matter?," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 51(2), pages 517-539, June.
    3. Abhilash & Sandeep S. Shenoy & Dasharathraj K. Shetty & Lumen Shawn Lobo & Subrahmanya Kumar N., 2023. "Green Bond as an Innovative Financial Instrument in the Indian Financial Market: Insights From Systematic Literature Review Approach," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, June.
    4. John Caramichael & Andreas Rapp, 2022. "The Green Corporate Bond Issuance Premium," International Finance Discussion Papers 1346, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    5. Caramichael, John & Rapp, Andreas C., 2024. "The green corporate bond issuance premium," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    6. Ayman Abdalmajeed Alsmadi & Manaf Al-Okaily & Najed Alrawashdeh & Anwar Al-Gasaymeh & Amer Moh’d Al-hazimeh & Abdulrasheed Zakari, 2023. "A Bibliometric Analysis of Green Bonds and Sustainable Green Energy: Evidence from the Last Fifteen Years (2007–2022)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-16, March.
    7. Julija Bužinskė & Jelena Stankevičienė, 2023. "Analysis of Success Factors, Benefits, and Challenges of Issuing Green Bonds in Lithuania," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-20, May.
    8. Gu, Leilei & Peng, Yuchao & Vigne, Samuel A. & Wang, Yizhi, 2023. "Hidden costs of non-green performance? The impact of air pollution awareness on loan rates for Chinese firms," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 233-250.
    9. Wang, Congcong & Wang, Chong & Long, Huaigang & Zaremba, Adam & Zhou, Wenyu, 2024. "Green bond credit spreads and bank loans in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    10. Martijn Boermans, 2023. "Preferred habitat investors in the green bond market," Working Papers 773, DNB.

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