Corporate foreign bond issuance and interfirm loans in China

Huang, Y, Panizza, U and Portes, R (2024) Corporate foreign bond issuance and interfirm loans in China. Journal of International Economics. ISSN 0022-1996 (In Press)

Abstract

We use firm-level data to analyze international bond issuance by Chinese non-financial corporations, distinguishing those by sectors classed as ‘risky’. Dollar issuance is positively correlated with the differential between domestic and foreign interest rates, and this effect is particularly strong for firms in risky sectors. Strikingly, firms in risky sectors use the proceeds to do more interfirm lending than firms in non-risky sectors. Moreover, this lending rose significantly after the authorities sought to restrict the financial activities of risky sectors in 2008–09. Firms in risky sectors compound risk by engaging in speculative activities that mimic the behavior of financial institutions while escaping prudential regulation.