Green finance instruments: exploring minibonds issuance in Italy

In the context of green finance, minibonds play a crucial role. This nancial instrument was introduced in 2012 as a valid alternative to bank credit for corporate nancing, aimed mainly at small and medium-sized enterprises. Minibonds also represent useful support for implementing the ecological transaction agreed upon in COP 21, held in 2015 in Paris. In- deed, as of 2017, this instrument has been expanded from an environmen- tal perspective by allowing the issuance of green minibonds. This article contributes to the debate on minibonds and the companies issuing them. Speci cally, it proposes a cluster analysis approach for comparing the is- suance level of minibonds in 2016 and the subsequent performances of the issuing companies in the triennium 2017-2019. Performance is divided into three macro-categories: profitability, productivity and growth opportuni- ties. The results suggest a non-linear connection between the variables of interest, showing heterogeneous e ects of minibonds on performance. However, the statistical data analysis seems to establish a positive rela- tionship between minibonds' issuance level and companies' performance.