Have credit risk mitigation warrants eased the difficulty and the cost of financing for private enterprises?

The Credit Risk Mitigation Warrants (CRMW), as the primary tools for supporting bond financing for Chinese private enterprises, have the capacity to guide the market in reducing risk concerns associated with private enterprises and alleviating their financing challenges. Consequently, CRMW has garnered sustained attention and support within the bond market. Few empirical studies have analyzed the effects of CRMW on private enterprise bonds in the Chinese market. Using a sample of 1,171 bonds issued by 210 private firms between 2018 and 2020, we conducted an empirical analysis to examine CRMW’s effect on the enthusiasm for private enterprise bond subscriptions and issuance costs. We find that private enterprises issuing bonds with CRMW can significantly increase the enthusiasm for bond subscriptions. CRMW’s effects in expanding such enthusiasm are more evident among high-rated private enterprises. The CRMW is more effective in non-listed, smaller-asset enterprises, while the effects of reducing bond issuance costs are more significant in lower-rated private enterprises. This study provides precise empirical evidence for lowering the difficulty of private corporate bond financing for CRMW. The study also addresses the debate in existing literature regarding whether CRMW reduces the cost of debt financing for private enterprises, and provides references for policy improvements related to CRMW.