Abstract
This paper describes for academic researchers some important aspects of the municipal bond market and some of the main themes and findings from the existing body of academic research on that market. The market is extremely diverse, with tens of thousands of different issuers, and relative to other bond markets it is characterized by an unusually high level of direct participation by individual investors. The discussion of the academic literature on municipal bonds is broad but pays particular attention to research on the real impacts of the municipal market and to how that market is (and is not) taxed and regulated.