Green Bonds as an Instrument for Financing Ecological Investments in the V4 Countries

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to characterise the green bond market in the Visegrad Group of countries (V4) and to identify the determinants and benefits of issuing green bonds. The specific objective is a spatial–temporal analysis of the green bond yield in V4 countries. The following research methods were used in the paper: a source literature analysis and report analysis, statistical data analysis (from international financial markets), and the Dynamic Time Warping method (DTW). DTW comprises a class of algorithms that are used to compare both equal and unequal time series. The DTW method allows the smallest distance between two time series of different lengths to be found while allowing for the transformation over time of both series. As the method is highly efficient, it is used to provide a thorough spatial–temporal analysis of green bonds. The research process confirmed that green bonds are an instrument with potential in the global debt market. Among the most important stimulants for the issuance of green government bonds are capital mobilisation, the development of the green financial market, investor demand, and reputational benefits.