Sovereign Credit Default Swaps and Corporate Investment

ABSTRACT We investigate the impact of sovereign credit default swap (CDS) introduction on corporate investment. Our analysis reveals that the launch of sovereign CDS significantly expands national credit supply and boosts aggregate investment levels. We further document a positive and statistically significant effect of sovereign CDS introduction on firm‐level investment. Crucially, we find that this positive relationship is primarily observed in the subsample of firms without existing CDS trading and is more pronounced for politically sensitive firms. This beneficial effect is driven by the supply of domestic private credit and is amplified in countries characterized by weaker legal environments and lower information transparency. Collectively, our findings suggest that sovereign credit market innovation plays a vital role in channeling firms toward productive investments.