| Variables | Name | Symbol | Definition |
| Dependent | Bond’s yield spread | YieldSpread | The difference between the yield to maturity of ESG bonds at the time of issuance and the yield of government bonds in the corresponding period |
| Macro Explanatory | Regional per capita GDP | pGDP | Logarithmic data |
| Regional fiscal revenue | Fiscal | Logarithmic data | |
| CPI | CPI | Year on year % | |
| Broad money supply | M2 | Year on year % | |
| Economic policy uncertainty index | Uncertain | News index | |
| HS 300 Index | HS | Yield % | |
| China securities green bond index | GBI | Yield % | |
| RMB to USD exchange rate | USD | Daily median price, taking the average on a monthly basis | |
| Futures fuel oil settlement price | Oil | Yield % | |
| Micro interpretation | Total Issuance Amount | Amount | - |
| Term | Term | (Due date − value date)/365 | |
| Entity rating at the time of issuance | MainScore | Uniformly graded, minimum A− = 1, maximum AAA = 6 | |
| Debt rating at the time of issuance | DebtScore | Uniformly graded, minimum A− = 1, maximum AAA = 6 | |
| Guarantee delivery | Secure | Dummy variable, yes = 1, no = 0 | |
| State-owned equity? | Soe | Dummy variable, yes = 1, no = 0 | |
| Green bonds? | Green | Dummy variable, yes = 1, no = 0 | |
| Urban investment bonds? | City | Dummy variable, yes = 1, no = 0 | |
| Control | Regional controls of issuing entities | area | 7 dummy variables East/South/North/Central/Northwest/ Southwest/Northeast China |
| Annual controls of issuance | year | 8 dummy variables years from 2016 to 2023 |