IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v61y2022ics0275531922000460.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does global climate risk encourage companies to take more risks?

Author

Listed:
  • Xu, Weidong
  • Gao, Xin
  • Xu, Hao
  • Li, Donghui

Abstract

This paper employs a large international sample of 167,923 firm-year observations across 43 countries spanning 2001–2016 and finds that both annual and long-run climate risks have significantly positive impacts on corporate risk-taking, which is regarded as value-enhancing. Compared to long-run climate risk, annual climate risk plays a more dominant role. Moreover, we find high individualism and low uncertainty avoidance contribute to the positive effect of climate risk on corporate risk-taking. Compared to larger firms, smaller firms are more motivated to take on more risks when exposed to climate risks. Insurance provides protection for companies to take more risks. Also, country-level corporate governance is found to enhance the positive impacts of climate risks on corporate risk-taking. In addition, after taking endogeneity issues into account and conducting robustness tests, our primary conclusions remain.

Suggested Citation

  • Xu, Weidong & Gao, Xin & Xu, Hao & Li, Donghui, 2022. "Does global climate risk encourage companies to take more risks?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:61:y:2022:i:c:s0275531922000460
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2022.101658
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531922000460
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2022.101658?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dominika Langenmayr & Rebecca Lester, 2013. "Taxation and corporate risk-taking," Working Papers 1316, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    2. Cao, Melanie & Wei, Jason, 2005. "Stock market returns: A note on temperature anomaly," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 1559-1573, June.
    3. Chatjuthamard, Pattanaporn & Wongboonsin, Patcharawalai & Kongsompong, Kritika & Jiraporn, Pornsit, 2020. "Does economic policy uncertainty influence executive risk-taking incentives?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    4. Biddle, Gary C. & Hilary, Gilles & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2009. "How does financial reporting quality relate to investment efficiency?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2-3), pages 112-131, December.
    5. Jiekun Huang & Nianhang Xu & Honghai Yu, 2020. "Pollution and Performance: Do Investors Make Worse Trades on Hazy Days?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(10), pages 4455-4476, October.
    6. Marshall Burke & Solomon M. Hsiang & Edward Miguel, 2015. "Global non-linear effect of temperature on economic production," Nature, Nature, vol. 527(7577), pages 235-239, November.
    7. David Hirshleifer & Tyler Shumway, 2003. "Good Day Sunshine: Stock Returns and the Weather," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1009-1032, June.
    8. Hirshleifer, David & Thakor, Anjan V, 1992. "Managerial Conservatism, Project Choice, and Debt," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 5(3), pages 437-470.
    9. Bolton, Patrick & Kacperczyk, Marcin, 2021. "Do investors care about carbon risk?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 517-549.
    10. Narjess Boubakri & Sattar A Mansi & Walid Saffar, 2013. "Political institutions, connectedness, and corporate risk-taking," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 44(3), pages 195-215, April.
    11. Amos Tversky & Daniel Kahneman, 1991. "Loss Aversion in Riskless Choice: A Reference-Dependent Model," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 1039-1061.
    12. Miguel A. Ferreira & Paul A. Laux, 2007. "Corporate Governance, Idiosyncratic Risk, and Information Flow," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(2), pages 951-989, April.
    13. Shengbao Zhai & Lu Xie & Sheng Zhang, 2017. "Bank connections and corporate risk-taking: evidence from China," Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1-2), pages 183-194, April.
    14. Simeon Djankov & Tim Ganser & Caralee McLiesh & Rita Ramalho & Andrei Shleifer, 2010. "The Effect of Corporate Taxes on Investment and Entrepreneurship," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 31-64, July.
    15. Mara Faccio & Maria-Teresa Marchica & Roberto Mura, 2011. "Large Shareholder Diversification and Corporate Risk-Taking," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(11), pages 3601-3641.
    16. Low, Angie, 2009. "Managerial risk-taking behavior and equity-based compensation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 470-490, June.
    17. John Luke Gallup & Jeffrey D. Sachs & Andrew Mellinger, 1999. "Geography and Economic Development," CID Working Papers 1, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    18. Martina K. Linnenluecke & Jacqueline Birt & Andrew Griffiths & Kathy Walsh, 2015. "The role of accounting in supporting adaptation to climate change," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 55(3), pages 607-625, September.
    19. Yang Dean, 2008. "Coping with Disaster: The Impact of Hurricanes on International Financial Flows, 1970-2002," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-45, June.
    20. Melissa Dell & Benjamin F. Jones & Benjamin A. Olken, 2009. "Temperature and Income: Reconciling New Cross-Sectional and Panel Estimates," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 198-204, May.
    21. Khaw, Karren Lee-Hwei & Liao, Jing & Tripe, David & Wongchoti, Udomsak, 2016. "Gender diversity, state control, and corporate risk-taking: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 141-158.
    22. Alexander Ljungqvist & Liandong Zhang & Luo Zuo, 2017. "Sharing Risk with the Government: How Taxes Affect Corporate Risk Taking," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 669-707, June.
    23. John Luke Gallup & Jeffrey D. Sachs & Andrew Mellinger, 1999. "Geography and Economic Development," CID Working Papers 01A, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    24. Gormley, Todd A. & Matsa, David A., 2016. "Playing it safe? Managerial preferences, risk, and agency conflicts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 431-455.
    25. Melissa Dell & Benjamin F. Jones & Benjamin A. Olken, 2014. "What Do We Learn from the Weather? The New Climate-Economy Literature," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(3), pages 740-798, September.
    26. Le Luo & Qingliang Tang, 2021. "Corporate governance and carbon performance: role of carbon strategy and awareness of climate risk," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 2891-2934, June.
    27. Kahneman, Daniel & Knetsch, Jack L & Thaler, Richard H, 1990. "Experimental Tests of the Endowment Effect and the Coase Theorem," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(6), pages 1325-1348, December.
    28. Gallup, J.L. & Sachs, J.D. & Mullinger, A., 1999. "Geography and Economic Development," Papers 1, Chicago - Graduate School of Business.
    29. Allen, Franklin & Gale, Douglas, 1997. "Financial Markets, Intermediaries, and Intertemporal Smoothing," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(3), pages 523-546, June.
    30. Mathias S. Kruttli & Brigitte Roth Tran & Sumudu W. Watugala, 2019. "Pricing Poseidon: Extreme Weather Uncertainty and Firm Return Dynamics," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2019-054, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    31. Grossman, Sanford J & Hart, Oliver D, 1983. "An Analysis of the Principal-Agent Problem," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 51(1), pages 7-45, January.
    32. Lisa Zaval & Elizabeth A. Keenan & Eric J. Johnson & Elke U. Weber, 2014. "How warm days increase belief in global warming," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(2), pages 143-147, February.
    33. Favara, Giovanni & Morellec, Erwan & Schroth, Enrique & Valta, Philip, 2017. "Debt enforcement, investment, and risk taking across countries," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 22-41.
    34. Acharya, Viral V. & Amihud, Yakov & Litov, Lubomir, 2011. "Creditor rights and corporate risk-taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(1), pages 150-166, October.
    35. Choy, Helen & Lin, Juichia & Officer, Micah S., 2014. "Does freezing a defined benefit pension plan affect firm risk?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 1-21.
    36. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2003. "Enjoying the Quiet Life? Corporate Governance and Managerial Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(5), pages 1043-1075, October.
    37. Mariassunta Giannetti & Yishay Yafeh, 2012. "Do Cultural Differences Between Contracting Parties Matter? Evidence from Syndicated Bank Loans," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(2), pages 365-383, February.
    38. Liang Shao & Chuck CY Kwok & Omrane Guedhami, 2010. "National culture and dividend policy," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(8), pages 1391-1414, October.
    39. Robert M. Bushman & Joseph D. Piotroski & Abbie J. Smith, 2004. "What Determines Corporate Transparency?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 207-252, May.
    40. Acemoglu, Daron & Zilibotti, Fabrizio, 1997. "Was Prometheus Unbound by Chance? Risk, Diversification, and Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(4), pages 709-751, August.
    41. Demski, JS & Dye, RA, 1999. "Risk, return, and moral hazard," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 27-55.
    42. Yakov Amihud & Baruch Lev, 1981. "Risk Reduction as a Managerial Motive for Conglomerate Mergers," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 12(2), pages 605-617, Autumn.
    43. Yaoqin Li & Xixiong Xu, 2020. "Does religious culture matter for corporate risk-taking? Evidence from China," Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(5), pages 511-530, September.
    44. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    45. Mohammed Abdellaoui & Han Bleichrodt & Corina Paraschiv, 2007. "Loss Aversion Under Prospect Theory: A Parameter-Free Measurement," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(10), pages 1659-1674, October.
    46. Espen Eckbo, B. & Thorburn, Karin S., 2003. "Control benefits and CEO discipline in automatic bankruptcy auctions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 227-258, July.
    47. Darwin Choi & Zhenyu Gao & Wenxi Jiang, 2020. "Attention to Global Warming," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 1112-1145.
    48. Licht, Amir N. & Goldschmidt, Chanan & Schwartz, Shalom H., 2005. "Culture, Law, and Corporate Governance," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 229-255, June.
    49. Boubakri, Narjess & Cosset, Jean-Claude & Saffar, Walid, 2013. "The role of state and foreign owners in corporate risk-taking: Evidence from privatization," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(3), pages 641-658.
    50. Hardjo Koerniadi & Chandrasekhar Krishnamurti & Alireza Tourani-Rad, 2014. "Corporate governance and risk-taking in New Zealand," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 39(2), pages 227-245, May.
    51. Donghui Li & Fariborz Moshirian & Peter Kien Pham & Jason Zein, 2006. "When Financial Institutions Are Large Shareholders: The Role of Macro Corporate Governance Environments," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2975-3007, December.
    52. Li, Kai & Griffin, Dale & Yue, Heng & Zhao, Longkai, 2013. "How does culture influence corporate risk-taking?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 1-22.
    53. Gallup, John & Sachs, Jeffrey, 1999. "Geography and Economic Development," Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) Papers 294434, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.
    54. Coles, Jeffrey L. & Daniel, Naveen D. & Naveen, Lalitha, 2006. "Managerial incentives and risk-taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 431-468, February.
    55. Ahsan Habib & Mostafa Monzur Hasan, 2017. "Firm life cycle, corporate risk-taking and investor sentiment," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(2), pages 465-497, June.
    56. Henry He Huang & Joseph Kerstein & Chong Wang, 2018. "The impact of climate risk on firm performance and financing choices: An international comparison," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(5), pages 633-656, July.
    57. Kun Su & Liuchuang Li & Rui Wan, 2017. "Ultimate ownership, risk-taking and firm value: evidence from China," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 10-26, January.
    58. Hong, Harrison & Li, Frank Weikai & Xu, Jiangmin, 2019. "Climate risks and market efficiency," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 208(1), pages 265-281.
    59. Nguyen, Pascal, 2011. "Corporate governance and risk-taking: Evidence from Japanese firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 278-297, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhu, Danyu & Gao, Xin & Luo, Zijun & Xu, Weidong, 2022. "Environmental performance and corporate risk-taking: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    2. Gao, Xin & Xu, Weidong & Li, Donghui, 2022. "Media coverage and corporate risk-taking: International evidence," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    3. Jiang, Jiaoliang & Chen, Yulin, 2021. "How does labor protection influence corporate risk-taking? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    4. Henry He Huang & Joseph Kerstein & Chong Wang, 2018. "The impact of climate risk on firm performance and financing choices: An international comparison," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(5), pages 633-656, July.
    5. Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2018. "Do firms with state ownership in transitional economies take more risk? Evidence from Vietnam," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 251-256.
    6. Chang, Jeffery (Jinfan) & Meng, Qingbin & Ni, Xiaoran, 2022. "A tale of riskiness: The real effects of share pledging on the Chinese stock market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    7. He, Feng & Ding, Cong & Yue, Wei & Liu, Guanchun, 2023. "ESG performance and corporate risk-taking: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    8. Stephen P. Ferris & David Javakhadze & Tijana Rajkovic, 2019. "An international analysis of CEO social capital and corporate risk‐taking," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 25(1), pages 3-37, January.
    9. Jin, Yige & Dong, Nanyan & Tian, Gaoliang & Zhang, Junrui, 2023. "Wisdom of the masses: Employee education and corporate risk taking," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    10. Shen, Zhe & Sowahfio Sowah, Joseph & Li, Shan, 2022. "Societal trust and corporate risk-taking: International evidence," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    11. Wang, Jie & Wang, Wanwan & Yuan, Fang, 2023. "Air pollution and corporate risk-taking: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 570-586.
    12. Yin, Libo & Lu, Man, 2022. "Oil uncertainty and firms' risk-taking," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    13. Shen, Zhe & Sowah, Joseph Sowahfio & Dak-Adzaklo, Cephas Simon Peter & Li, Shan, 2023. "Competition laws and corporate risk-taking around the world," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    14. Cline, Brandon N. & Williamson, Claudia R., 2017. "Individualism, democracy, and contract enforcement," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 284-306.
    15. Tran, Quoc Trung, 2019. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate risk-taking: International evidence," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 52.
    16. Pascal Gantenbein & Axel Kind & Christophe Volonté, 2019. "Individualism and Venture Capital: A Cross-Country Study," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 59(5), pages 741-777, October.
    17. Rao, Sandeep & Koirala, Santosh & Thapa, Chandra & Neupane, Suman, 2022. "When rain matters! Investments and value relevance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    18. Sultan Sikandar Mirza & Raheel Safdar & Yan Yu & M. Awais Gulzar, 2019. "Managerial Empowerment and Firm Risk-Taking," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(2), pages 21582440198, June.
    19. Çolak, Gönül & Korkeamäki, Timo, 2021. "CEO mobility and corporate policy risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    20. Kenneth Yung & Chen Chen, 2018. "Managerial ability and firm risk-taking behavior," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1005-1032, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate risk-taking; Climate risk; Corporate governance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:61:y:2022:i:c:s0275531922000460. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ribaf .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.