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Overpricing in Municipal Bond Markets and the Unintended Consequences of Regulatory Measures: Evidence from China
Laura Xiaolei Liu, Qiao Liu, Xiaoyu Liu, Ni Zhu, Dec 03, 2024Chinese municipal bonds are considerably overpriced in the primary market, leading regulators to set a lower bound on the issuance yield spread. This paper investigates the underlying reasons for this overpricing and evaluates the effects of implementing restrictions on yield spreads. Our findings indicate that underwriters may inflate prices to receive undisclosed benefits from local governments, such as local treasury cash deposits. We further show that the lower bounds severely impede price discovery in the primary municipal bond market. Even bonds not restricted by the lower limit are priced at the reference spread, exacerbating overpricing of riskier bonds. Local governments exploit these fixed prices by increasing the bond issuance amount and extending bond maturity. Our findings suggest that regulatory interference in pricing can have unintended consequences for pricing efficiency and that attempts to rectify mispricing may result in even more severe mispricing.
Excessive Issuance of New Funds in China and Implications for Investor Protection
Shuai Ye, Jeffrey (Jinfan) Chang, Kaixuan Zheng, Jun 25, 2025The Chinese mutual fund industry is only one-tenth the size of its US counterpart, but the number of funds in China has surpassed that of the US. Our study shows that such a large number of funds is unhealthy: managers issue new funds repetitively with different custodian banks, resulting in the average manager overseeing 2.7 funds. Managers shift profits to new funds in order to attract more flows. Among funds under the same manager, new funds have higher returns than old funds, spurring concerns over investor protection.
A Biological Clock Explanation for the Gender Gap in Earnings: Import Competition Increases Female Fertility
Wolfgang Keller, Hâle Utar, Apr 15, 2020Rising import competition from emerging countries such as China, which are increasingly integrated in the global economy, have led to lower labor market opportunities in many high-income countries, especially for middle-class manufacturing workers (see Keller and Utar, 2019). This article shows that the implications of rising import competition go beyond the labor market and also affect family size and structure.
Financial Reporting and Disclosure Practices in China
Hai Lu, Jee-Eun Shin, Mingyue Zhang, Jul 04, 2024This article discussing that Chinese firms tend to emphasize the stability of financial performance in their reports. In contrast to U.S. firms, their financial disclosures are significantly swayed by non-shareholder stakeholders and do not leverage voluntary disclosures to mitigate capital costs.
Financial Spillovers of Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from China
Haoyuan Ding, Shu Lin, Shujie Wu, Haichun Ye, May 08, 2024Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has enhanced the financial conditions of Chinese enterprises, particularly through the financial spillover effects generated by supply chain connections, which have helped to reduce the burden of trade credit and increase opportunities for bank financing.
