Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
2018
Abstract
Do markets value contract protections? And does the quality of a legal system affect such valuations? To answer these questions we exploit a unique experiment whereby, after January 1, 2013, newly issued sovereign bonds of Eurozone countries under domestic law had to include Collective Action Clauses (CACs) specifying the minimum vote needed to modify payment terms. We find that CAC bonds trade at lower yields than otherwise similar no-CAC bonds; and that the quality of the legal system matters for this differential. Hence, markets appear to see CACs as providing protection against the legal risk embedded in domestic-law sovereign bonds.
Citation
Elena Carletti et al., The Price of Law: The Case of the Eurozone Collective Action Clauses (October 19, 2018)
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Public debts—Law and legislation, Debt relief, Government securities, Contracts, International finance--Law and legislation
Included in
Banking and Finance Law Commons, Contracts Commons, International Law Commons, Law and Economics Commons, Securities Law Commons
Available at: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/faculty_scholarship/3543