TY - JOUR T1 - Build America Bonds: <em>An Empirical Analysis of Characteristics and Issuer Benefits</em> JF - The Journal of Fixed Income SP - 89 LP - 103 DO - 10.3905/jfi.2014.24.1.089 VL - 24 IS - 1 AU - Kenneth Daniels AU - Jack Dorminey AU - Brent C. Smith AU - Jayaraman Vijayakumar Y1 - 2014/06/30 UR - https://pm-research.com/content/24/1/89.abstract N2 - We provide a comprehensive empirical analysis of the Build America Bonds (BABs) program. We show that the program benefits issuers in the form of lower yields relative to tax-exempt municipal debt for both general obligation and revenue issues. Our analysis suggests no differences in underwriter gross spreads for BABs issues at issuance relative to tax-exempt debt, and that issuance of BABs did not significantly affect prices of other tax-exempt bonds of the BABs issuers. Our analysis also examines characteristics of BABs issuers and factors influencing yields and gross spreads, and suggests that the BABs program was effective in achieving its objectives.TOPICS: Fixed income and structured finance, legal/regulatory/public policy ER -