Is There an Issuance Premium for SRI Bonds?: Evidence from the Periods Before and After the COVID-19 Outbreak
This study empirically examines whether there are any issuance premia for Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) bonds, using the data from the South Korean bond market from May 2018 to December 2020. We classify SRI bonds into three types: green, social, and sustainability. We divide the sample period into pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 to understand how the pandemic has impacted the pricing of SRI bonds. We employ two empirical approaches: a matching sample analysis and a regression analysis that controls various bond and market characteristics. We find the following. First, significant issuance premia of at least 8bp existed for our sample of social bonds. However, we do not find any evidence of an issuance premium from the other two types of bonds. The premia on social bonds decreased significantly after the outbreak of COVID-19. As most studies have focused on green bonds, the literature on SRI bonds has largely been silent about social bonds and sustainability bonds. By focusing on these two less researched SRI bond types in addition to green bonds, we help expand our knowledge on SRI bond markets. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the SRI bond market in South Korea.