“Is the Government always greener?”

Published in Energy Economics

Authors:
Caterina Di Tommaso, University of Bari
Salvatore Perdichizzi, Department of Economics and Mangement - University of Padua
Samuel Vigne, Luiss Business School
Andrea Zaghini, Bank of Italy

This paper investigates whether public issuers obtain cheaper funding for green projects than their private peers. Using 5,905 green bonds issued globally (2014–2021), the authors find public borrowers pay yields about 50 basis points lower than private peers, rising to ~70 basis points in 2019–2021. The effect is strongest for sovereigns and increases with policy uncertainty, pointing to a "public balance-sheet premium", indicating that green-bond pricing is jointly governed by issuer identity and time-varying global risk conditions.

Read the full article: https://unipd.link/Paper_Perdichizzi_Government_Greener