IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/abk/jajeba/ajebasp.2009.11.20.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of Information Asymmetry on Municipal Bond Yields: An Empirical Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Kenneth Daniels
  • Demissew Diro Ejara

Abstract

Problem statement: There is a significant difference between the interest rates on the GO and the RV municipal bonds. We sought explanation for this difference in differences in information asymmetry between the two types of municipal bonds. GO bonds finance general municipality expenditures and repayment is from general tax revenues. RV bonds finance special projects and repayment is from cash flows of the special projects. These projects are assumed to be more asymmetric than the general municipality tax revenues. Previous studies examined this issue but did not explicitly consider the information asymmetry differences. Approach: We used issue transaction spread as a proxy for information asymmetry. Average spread for RV bonds is 1.172% while that for GO bonds is 0.892%. We controlled for external economic factors, issue and issuer features and contractual terms that might affect yield on debt. We used two-step regression analyses to explain yields on the two types of municipal bonds. Results: RV bonds cost 74 basis points more on the average than GO bonds. After controlling for external economic factors, issue and issuer features and contract terms, the difference shrank to an average of 44 basis points. Issue transaction spread, our proxy for information asymmetry and credit rating were important determinants of bond yields. Conclusion/Recommendations: Issue transaction spread, as a proxy for information asymmetry, explained differences in bond yields. Other variables that affect yield differences were credit rating, maturity, economic activities, contract terms and other issue and issuer features. Still, there remained an unexplained difference in the yields between RV and GO bonds of 44 basis points that we left for further research. This difference was inversely related to the credit rating of the bond.

Suggested Citation

  • Kenneth Daniels & Demissew Diro Ejara, 2009. "Impact of Information Asymmetry on Municipal Bond Yields: An Empirical Analysis," American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, Science Publications, vol. 1(1), pages 11-20, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:abk:jajeba:ajebasp.2009.11.20
    DOI: 10.3844/ajebasp.2009.11.20
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://thescipub.com/pdf/ajebasp.2009.11.20.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://thescipub.com/abstract/ajebasp.2009.11.20
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3844/ajebasp.2009.11.20?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Allen N. Berger & Marco A. Espinosa‐Vega & W. Scott Frame & Nathan H. Miller, 2005. "Debt Maturity, Risk, and Asymmetric Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2895-2923, December.
    2. Liu, Pu & Thakor, Anjan V, 1984. "Interest Yields, Credit Ratings, and Economic Characteristics of State Bonds: An Empirical Analysis: A Note," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 16(3), pages 344-351, August.
    3. Kidwell, David S & Koch, Timothy W, 1982. "The Behavior of the Interest Rate Differential between Tax-Exempt Revenue and General Obligation Bonds: A Test of Risk Preferences and Market Segmentation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 37(1), pages 73-85, March.
    4. Richard West, 1964. "New Issue Concessions on Municipal Bonds: A Case of Monopsony Pricing," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38, pages 135-135.
    5. Kenneth Daniels & Demissew Diro Ejara & Jayaraman Vijayakumar, 2010. "Debt Maturity, Credit Risk, and Information Asymmetry: The Case of Municipal Bonds," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 45(3), pages 603-626, August.
    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. Gordon H. Dash & Nina Kajiji & Domenic Vonella, 2018. "The role of supervised learning in the decision process to fair trade US municipal debt," EURO Journal on Decision Processes, Springer;EURO - The Association of European Operational Research Societies, vol. 6(1), pages 139-168, June.
    2. Arti Yadav & Badar Alam Iqbal, 2021. "Socio-economic Scenario of South Asia: An Overview of Impacts of COVID-19," South Asian Survey, , vol. 28(1), pages 20-37, March.

    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. Brune, Chris & Liu, Pu, 2011. "The contagion effect of default risk insurer downgrades: The impact on insured municipal bonds," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 63(5), pages 492-502, September.
    2. Wu, Julia Yonghua & Opare, Solomon & Bhuiyan, Md. Borhan Uddin & Habib, Ahsan, 2022. "Determinants and consequences of debt maturity structure: A systematic review of the international literature," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Valérie Oheix & Dorothée Rivaud-Danset, 2009. "Why do firms borrow on a short-term basis ? Evidence from European countries," Working Papers hal-04140880, HAL.
    4. Kirschenmann, K., 2010. "The Dynamics in Requested and Granted Loan Terms when Bank and Borrower Interact Repeatedly," Other publications TiSEM 40d5005c-1626-4511-aa8a-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Custódio, Cláudia & Ferreira, Miguel A. & Laureano, Luís, 2013. "Why are US firms using more short-term debt?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 182-212.
    6. Bertrand, Jérémie & Burietz, Aurore, 2023. "(Loan) price and (loan officer) prejudice," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 26-42.
    7. Allen Berger, 2006. "Potential Competitive Effects of Basel II on Banks in SME Credit Markets in the United States," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 29(1), pages 5-36, February.
    8. Jiang, Zhiqian & Xu, Yue & Fang, Mei & Tang, Ziling & Tao, Chunhua, 2023. "How does the bond market price corporate ESG engagement? Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1406-1423.
    9. Massimo Pinna, 2015. "An Empirical Analysis of the Municipal Bond Market in Italy: Sovereign Risk and Sub-Sovereign Levels of Government," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 68-94, September.
    10. Ongena, Steven & Giannetti, Mariassunta, 2005. "Financial Integration and Entrepreneurial Activity: Evidence from Foreign Bank Entry in Emerging Markets," CEPR Discussion Papers 5151, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. repec:zbw:bofrdp:1997_008 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Maria Cornachione Kula, 2019. "The behavior of U.S. States’ debts and deficits," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 43(3), pages 267-289.
    13. Cowan, Arnold R. & Salotti, Valentina, 2015. "The resolution of failed banks during the crisis: Acquirer performance and FDIC guarantees, 2008–2013," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 222-238.
    14. Tasic, Nikola & Valev, Neven, 2010. "The provision of long-term financing in the transition economies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 160-172, June.
    15. Graham, John R. & Li, Si & Qiu, Jiaping, 2008. "Corporate misreporting and bank loan contracting," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 44-61, July.
    16. Kirschenmann, K., 2010. "The Dynamics in Requested and Granted Loan Terms when Bank and Borrower Interact Repeatedly," Discussion Paper 2010-63, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    17. Daniels, Kenneth N. & Vijayakumar, Jayaraman, 2007. "Does underwriter reputation matter in the municipal bond market?," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 59(6), pages 500-519.
    18. W. Scott Frame & Lawrence J. White, 2009. "Technological Change, Financial Innovation, and Diffusion in Banking," Working Papers 09-03, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    19. Boungou, Whelsy, 2021. "Empirical evidence of the lending channel of monetary policy under negative interest rates," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 309-318.
    20. Godlewski, Christophe & Weill, Laurent, 2021. "Are loans cheaper when tomorrow seems further?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 1058-1065.
    21. Berger, Allen N. & Espinosa-Vega, Marco A. & Frame, W. Scott & Miller, Nathan H., 2011. "Why do borrowers pledge collateral? New empirical evidence on the role of asymmetric information," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 55-70, January.

    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:abk:jajeba:ajebasp.2009.11.20. 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: Jeffery Daniels (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://thescipub.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.