Municipal Disclosure Timeliness and the Cost of Debt
研究发现市政债券发行人披露财务报告越慢，其债券在二级市场的收益率和价差越高、交易频率越低，且更少发行新债，对债券持有人和纳税人造成经济后果。
Abstract A longstanding concern for municipal bond investors is the lack of timely financial statement disclosures. Municipalities are held to lower disclosure standards than corporations. Using continuing disclosure dates for audited financial statements, we find bond issuers with slower disclosure have higher secondary market yields and spreads, less frequent secondary market trading, and are less likely to issue new bonds. We observe that future disclosure is largely predictable based on past disclosure and that disclosure often improves prior to new bond issuances. When municipalities do not capitalize on the benefits of timely disclosure, economic consequences are imposed on bondholders and taxpayers.