We investigate how political uncertainty around U.S. gubernatorial elections affects local government borrowing costs. Municipal bond yields sharply increase by 7 basis points before an election and reverse afterward. This political risk premium is higher during economic downturns and close...

This paper examines the impact of the opioid epidemic on the financing costs of local governments. We find that a higher county-level drug overdose death rate raises offering yield spreads for local municipal bond issuers, while lowering their debt capacity. A causal interpretation is suggested...

This paper shows that state tax policy significantly affects the transmission of asset purchase programs into municipal bond prices. I establish theoretically and empirically two parameters that determine prices in the cross section: the tax rates of in-state investors and the aggregate wealth...

Local governments play a significant role in China's public finance and fiscal operations. The size of local government debt has grown rapidly over the past years, exceeding the stock of sovereign debt in China. How does this development compare to other countries and what policies can foster...

Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 34 (GASB 34), issued in 1999 with required implementation beginning in 2002, comprehensively and substantially changed the financial reporting model for state and local governments. Evidence reported in this study supports the notion that...

The alarming rise in drinking water pollution across the U.S. is often attributed to cost cutting pressures faced by local officials. We know little, however, about why these pressures are so severe for some cities compared to others. We present a new theory to argue that an important...

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, state and local governments were among the sectors expected to experience the most severe distress. The combination of a sharply deteriorating revenue picture, a pressing need for additional expenditures, delays in the receipt of substantial taxes owed, and...

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, state and local governments were among the sectors expected to experience the most severe distress. The combination of a sharply deteriorating revenue picture, a pressing need for additional expenditures, delays in the receipt of substantial taxes owed, and...

Using a system of equations approach, this paper empirically tests the impact of credit quality, asset maturity, and other issuer and issue characteristics on the maturity of municipal bonds. We find that under conditions of lower information asymmetry that prevails in the municipal sector,...

Forced to address human-induced climate change, the world has embarked on the transition to a low-carbon economy, requiring massive amounts of financing. Municipalities in the US have begun to issue bonds that are third-party certified and registered with the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) to...