The Impact of COVID-19 on Public Capital Markets - Empirical Evidence from the Nordics

Abstract: How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect firms' ability to raise capital? This paper explores how non-financial Nordic firms raised capital from public debt and equity markets during the pandemic. We find that (1) the bond market experiences turbulence during the outbreak period; (2) being a rated bond issuer is only important for access during the outbreak period; (3) factors that determine bond spreads during the normal period do not change fundamentally during the COVID-19 period; (4) the equity market is an important source of capital throughout the COVID-19 period in terms of both IPOs and secondary issues.