IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/enreec/v81y2022i2d10.1007_s10640-021-00630-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10640-021-00630-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10640-021-00630-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. ., 2017. "In kind benefits as partial payment of a living wage," Chapters, in: Living Wages Around the World, chapter 16, pages 281-306, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Malcolm Baker & Daniel Bergstresser & George Serafeim & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2018. "Financing the Response to Climate Change: The Pricing and Ownership of U.S. Green Bonds," NBER Working Papers 25194, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Andreas Karpf & Antoine Mandel, 2018. "The changing value of the ‘green’ label on the US municipal bond market," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(2), pages 161-165, February.
    4. Bolton, Patrick & Kacperczyk, Marcin, 2021. "Do investors care about carbon risk?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 517-549.
    5. Leora Klapper, 2023. "How digital payments can benefit entrepreneurs," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 396-396, April.
    6. Avner Shaked & John Sutton, 1982. "Relaxing Price Competition Through Product Differentiation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 49(1), pages 3-13.
    7. Reboredo, Juan C., 2018. "Green bond and financial markets: Co-movement, diversification and price spillover effects," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 38-50.
    8. ., 2017. "Benefits theory," Chapters, in: Financing Nonprofits and Other Social Enterprises, chapter 3, pages 39-61, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. duPont, Carolyn M. & Levitt, James N. & Bilmes, Linda J., 2015. "Green Bonds and Land Conservation: The Evolution of a New Financing Tool," Working Paper Series 15-072, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    10. Siti Nurhidayah Mohd Roslen & Lee Sin Yee & Salizatul Aizah Binti Ibrahim, 2017. "Green Bond and shareholders' wealth: a multi-country event study," International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(1), pages 61-69.
    11. Fan, Haichao & Peng, Yuchao & Wang, Huanhuan & Xu, Zhiwei, 2021. "Greening through finance?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    12. Dirk Heine & Willi Semmler & Mariana Mazzucato & João Paulo Braga & Michael Flaherty & Arkady Gevorkyan & Erin Hayde & Siavash Radpour, 2019. "Financing Low-Carbon Transitions through Carbon Pricing and Green Bonds," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 88(2), pages 29-49.
    13. Torsten Ehlers & Frank Packer, 2017. "Green bond finance and certification," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, September.
    14. Hong, Harrison & Kacperczyk, Marcin, 2009. "The price of sin: The effects of social norms on markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 15-36, July.
    15. Jaskold Gabszewicz, J. & Thisse, J. -F., 1979. "Price competition, quality and income disparities," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 340-359, June.
    16. Croissant, Yves & Millo, Giovanni, 2008. "Panel Data Econometrics in R: The plm Package," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 27(i02).
    17. Signe Krogstrup & William Oman, 2019. "Macroeconomic and Financial Policies for Climate Change Mitigation: A Review of the Literature," IMF Working Papers 2019/185, International Monetary Fund.
    18. Febi, Wulandari & Schäfer, Dorothea & Stephan, Andreas & Sun, Chen, 2018. "The impact of liquidity risk on the yield spread of green bonds," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 53-59.
    19. ., 2017. "The nature of benefits and their financing," Chapters, in: Financing Nonprofits and Other Social Enterprises, chapter 4, pages 62-82, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Swati Dhingra & Hanwei Huang & Gianmarco Ottaviano & João Paulo Pessoa & Thomas Sampson & John Van Reenen, 2017. "The costs and benefits of leaving the EU: trade effects," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 32(92), pages 651-705.
    21. ., 2017. "Benefits thinking: ideas and tools for practice," Chapters, in: Financing Nonprofits and Other Social Enterprises, chapter 12, pages 230-239, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    22. Croissant, Yves & Millo, Giovanni, 2008. "Panel Data Econometrics in R: The plm Package," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 27(i02).
    23. Afni, siti & -, Ridwan & Nurhasanah, Shinta & Wahyudin, Enyang & Gugun, Asep, 2017. "The Benefit of Fasting Spriritual or Economic," MPRA Paper 79475, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    24. Maria Jua Bachelet & Leonardo Becchetti & Stefano Manfredonia, 2019. "The Green Bonds Premium Puzzle: The Role of Issuer Characteristics and Third-Party Verification," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-22, February.
    25. Eftichios S. Sartzetakis, 2021. "Green bonds as an instrument to finance low carbon transition," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 755-779, August.
    26. Sudheer Chava, 2014. "Environmental Externalities and Cost of Capital," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(9), pages 2223-2247, September.
    27. Rudi G. J. Westendorp & Ulla Wewer, 2017. "Corporate culture: research can benefit," Nature, Nature, vol. 542(7641), pages 295-295, February.
    28. Goss, Allen & Roberts, Gordon S., 2011. "The impact of corporate social responsibility on the cost of bank loans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1794-1810, July.
    29. Flaherty, Michael & Gevorkyan, Arkady & Radpour, Siavash & Semmler, Willi, 2017. "Financing climate policies through climate bonds – A three stage model and empirics," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 468-479.
    30. Fritsch, Manuel & Kolev, Galina & Matthes, Jürgen, 2017. "EU Partners benefit from Germany's US export success," IW-Kurzberichte 73.2017e, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) / German Economic Institute.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. 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.).
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Martijn Boermans, 2023. "Preferred habitat investors in the green bond market," Working Papers 773, DNB.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Reboredo, Juan C. & Ugolini, Andrea & Ojea-Ferreiro, Javier, 2022. "Do green bonds de-risk investment in low-carbon stocks?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Zerbib, Olivier David, 2019. "The effect of pro-environmental preferences on bond prices: Evidence from green bonds," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 39-60.
    3. Fatica, Serena & Panzica, Roberto & Rancan, Michela, 2021. "The pricing of green bonds: Are financial institutions special?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    4. Wearing, Stephen & Beirman, David & Grabowski, Simone, 2020. "Engaging volunteer tourism in post-disaster recovery in Nepal," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    5. repec:hig:wpaper:101sti2019 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Braga, Joao Paulo & Semmler, Willi & Grass, Dieter, 2021. "De-risking of green investments through a green bond market – Empirics and a dynamic model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    7. Jiang, Kangqi & Chen, Zhongfei & Chen, Fanglin, 2022. "Green creates value: Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Gregor Dorfleitner & Sebastian Utz & Rongxin Zhang, 2022. "The pricing of green bonds: external reviews and the shades of green," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 797-834, April.
    9. Reboredo, Juan C. & Ugolini, Andrea & Aiube, Fernando Antonio Lucena, 2020. "Network connectedness of green bonds and asset classes," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    10. Tang, Dragon Yongjun & Zhang, Yupu, 2020. "Do shareholders benefit from green bonds?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    11. Huo, Xiaolin & Jiang, Dayan & Qiu, Zhigang & Yang, Sijie, 2022. "The impacts of dual carbon goals on asset prices in China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    12. Ricardo Gimeno & Clara I. González, 2022. "The role of a green factor in stock prices. When Fama & French go green," Working Papers 2207, Banco de España.
    13. Hinsche, Isabelle Cathérine, 2021. "A greenium for the next generation EU green bonds: Analysis of a potential green bond premium and its drivers," CFS Working Paper Series 663, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).
    14. Pham, Linh & Cepni, Oguzhan, 2022. "Extreme directional spillovers between investor attention and green bond markets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 186-210.
    15. Arif, Muhammad & Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Farid, Saqib & Nepal, Rabindra & Jamasb, Tooraj, 2022. "Diversifier or more? Hedge and safe haven properties of green bonds during COVID-19," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    16. Qinghua Wang & Yaning Zhou & Li Luo & Junping Ji, 2019. "Research on the Factors Affecting the Risk Premium of China’s Green Bond Issuance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-14, November.
    17. Koziol, Christian & Proelss, Juliane & Roßmann, Philipp & Schweizer, Denis, 2022. "The price of being green," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    18. Kocaarslan, Baris & Soytas, Ugur, 2023. "The role of major markets in predicting the U.S. municipal green bond market performance: New evidence from machine learning models," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    19. Li, Yanxi & Yu, Conghui & Shi, Jinyan & Liu, Yuanyuan, 2023. "How does green bond issuance affect total factor productivity? Evidence from Chinese listed enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    20. Piñeiro-Chousa, Juan & López-Cabarcos, M. Ángeles & Šević, Aleksandar, 2022. "Green bond market and Sentiment: Is there a switching Behaviour?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 520-527.
    21. Aleksandar Petreski & Dorothea Schäfer & Andreas Stephan, 2022. "Green Bonds’ Reputation Effect and Its Impact on the Financing Costs of the Real Estate Sector," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2019, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:81:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s10640-021-00630-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.