Climate Change and Municipal Bond Ratings

This paper examines whether climate change risks are incorporated into municipal bond ratings. In particular, I investigate whether municipalities with exposure to sea-level rise have lower bond ratings. Using a sample of rated bond issuances from 2011 to 2020, I docu- ment a negative relationship between bond ratings and climate risk for municipalities with exposure to sea-level rise. I also test whether there is a difference in ratings between coastal municipalities and a control group of non-coastal municipalities and find mixed results. My preliminary findings suggest that this risk is at least partially incorporated into bond ratings, however, the magnitude of the effect is small.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Sloan School of Management

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Zhang, Cindy

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Weber, Joseph

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
• Copyright retained by author(s)

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/156037

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/156037