Corporate Green Bonds: The Role of External Reviews for Investment Greenness and Disclosure Quality

Based on signaling theory, we examine the role of external reviews during the life-cycle of corporate green bonds. We focus on (1) whether investment greenness is related to external review upon issuing a green bond and (2) whether disclosure quality is positively associated with the assurance of green bond reports. Our results indicate that although companies with worse environmental performance are more likely to obtain at-issuance external reviews for their green bonds, their certified investments are more likely to be greener than those companies that did not obtain a review at issuance. This suggests that a more regulated form of external review may serve as a credible signal for green proceeds invested. In addition, we develop a disclosure index for green bond reports and show that post-issuance report assurance is associated with increased transparency. Our findings provide evidence that external reviews in the green bond issuance process are important governance factors to rule out potential greenwashing through the use of corporate green bonds.