Not only green: Sustainability and debt capital markets

Using a large international sample of corporate borrowers over the period 2014-22, we study the determinants of issuing green, sustainability and social (GSS) bonds. First, we document a remarkable growth of the GSS segment in the most recent years, possibly spurred by the public commitment towards financing a sustainable economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. The results from a multinomial logit for the choice of bond type confirm that countries' sustainability stance acts as an incentive for corporate access to the sustainable bond segment. Moreover, borrowers in sectors that are green or can become green, as well as those that have already issued and committed to external assurance on the GSS segment, are more likely to raise funds with non-conventional securities.