Uncertainty in Information Asymmetry and Corporate Bond Yield Spreads

The study examines how uncertainty in information asymmetry influences corporate bond yield spreads using American data from 1997 to 2010, and considers the effects of term structure and macroeconomic conditions on that. Empirical results show that the effect of uncertainty in information asymmetry significantly explains corporate bond yield spreads when controlling for variables well known in the literature. Bonds with higher uncertainty in information asymmetry tend to have higher yield spreads. In addition, this uncertainty in information asymmetry effect is especially noticeable among short-term bonds. Macroeconomic conditions also affect the uncertainty in information asymmetry effect on bond yield spreads. The positive relationship between a firm’s bond yield spreads and uncertainty in information asymmetry becomes weaker when economic growth rate is higher.