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Municipal borrowing costs and state policies for distressed municipalities

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  • Gao, Pengjie
  • Lee, Chang
  • Murphy, Dermot

Abstract

Policies on financially distressed municipalities differ across US states, with some allowing unconditional access to Chapter 9 bankruptcy (Chapter 9 states) and others having proactive policies to assist distressed municipalities (Proactive states). These differences significantly affect borrowing costs. In Chapter 9 states, local municipal bond yields are higher, more cyclical, and more sensitive to default events than Proactive states. Default events have a contagion effect in Chapter 9 states, but not Proactive states. Lower local borrowing costs in Proactive states come at the expense of the state via higher intergovernmental revenue transfers in times of weak economic conditions.

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  • Gao, Pengjie & Lee, Chang & Murphy, Dermot, 2019. "Municipal borrowing costs and state policies for distressed municipalities," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(2), pages 404-426.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:132:y:2019:i:2:p:404-426
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2018.10.009
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    Cited by:

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    2. Farrell, Michael & Murphy, Dermot & Painter, Marcus & Zhang, Guangli, 2023. "The complexity yield puzzle: A textual analysis of municipal bond disclosures," Working Papers 338, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    3. Gao, Pengjie & Lee, Chang & Murphy, Dermot, 2022. "Good for your fiscal health? The effect of the affordable care act on healthcare borrowing costs," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 464-488.
    4. Chen, Zhiwei & Li, Zhaoyuan & Liu, Sibo, 2022. "The price of political polarization: Evidence from municipal issuers during the coronavirus pandemic," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
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    6. Cheng, Stephanie F. & De Franco, Gus & Lin, Pengkai, 2023. "Marijuana liberalization and public finance: A capital market perspective on the passage of medical use laws," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1).
    7. Andrew F. Haughwout & Benjamin Hyman & Or Shachar, 2021. "COVID Response: The Municipal Liquidity Facility," Staff Reports 985, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    8. Painter, Marcus, 2020. "An inconvenient cost: The effects of climate change on municipal bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(2), pages 468-482.
    9. Jha, Chandan Kumar & Joshi, Swarup, 2023. "Municipal bankruptcies and crime," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    10. Tran, Nhu & Uzmanoglu, Cihan, 2023. "Reprint of: COVID-19, lockdowns, and the municipal bond market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
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    12. Cornaggia, Kimberly & Hund, John & Nguyen, Giang, 2022. "Investor attention and municipal bond returns," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    13. Gao, Haoyu & Ru, Hong & Tang, Dragon Yongjun, 2021. "Subnational debt of China: The politics-finance nexus," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(3), pages 881-895.
    14. Lu, Runjing & Ye, Zihan, 2023. "Roe v. Rates: Reproductive Healthcare and Public Financing Costs," SocArXiv 7t5jz, Center for Open Science.
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    16. Andrew F. Haughwout & Benjamin Hyman & Or Shachar, 2021. "The Option Value of Municipal Liquidity: Evidence from Federal Lending Cutoffs during COVID-19," Staff Reports 988, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    17. John Bagley & Nicholas Fritsch & Shawn Nee, 2021. "Municipal Markets and the Municipal Liquidity Facility," Working Papers 21-07, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Default risk; Government policy; Municipal bonds; Creditor protections;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • H74 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Borrowing

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