A Theory of Subnational Government Capital Market Information

Chapter 2 develops the theoretical base for why and how information resolution is expected to relate to subnational government capital market borrowing by reviewing and extending the corporate finance literature. Based on theories of information, it argues that although countries must have a certain level of maturity along economic, financial and market, political, and legal institutions before successfully managing a well-functioning capital market, the crowning factor behind an efficient subnational government credit market, beyond the fundamental dimensions of institutional maturity, is credit contractibility in the system and tools of information certification and monitoring available to subnational governments. This chapter details how information problems manifest in credit contractibility, reviews how information relates to capital finance, and applies theories of capital markets to subnational government borrowing, debt size, and debt composition. It discusses how information resolution institutions and credit quality can enhance subnational government capital markets and proposes testable hypotheses.