IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i2p559-d477197.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of Environmental Disaster Movies on Corporate Environmental and Financial Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Henry Hyun-Do Kim

    (College of Business, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Seoul 02455, Korea)

  • Kwangwoo Park

    (College of Business, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Seoul 02455, Korea)

Abstract

Using a unique United States box office data set, we investigate the impact of environmental sentiment on corporate environmental and financial performance of the United States listed firms. The influence of mass media on public and investor sentiments is well documented in the existing literature. However, little is known about the effect of movies, although they may influence the public more than other mass media because people, regardless of age and gender, enjoy watching movies. Using the event study methodology and multivariable regression analysis, we show that the release of anthropogenic environmental disaster movie(s) creates environmental sentiment and influences corporate behaviors. Specifically, firms significantly increase their environmental performance in the subsequent year of strong environmental sentiment after the release of environmental movies. More importantly, the positive effect of corporate environmental performance on financial performance is stronger when the environmental sentiment is stronger.

Suggested Citation

  • Henry Hyun-Do Kim & Kwangwoo Park, 2021. "Impact of Environmental Disaster Movies on Corporate Environmental and Financial Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-35, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:559-:d:477197
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/2/559/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/2/559/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chen, Tao & Dong, Hui & Lin, Chen, 2020. "Institutional shareholders and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(2), pages 483-504.
    2. Randy Becker & Vernon Henderson, 2000. "Effects of Air Quality Regulations on Polluting Industries," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(2), pages 379-421, April.
    3. Philip H. Brown & Jessica H. Minty, 2008. "Media Coverage and Charitable Giving after the 2004 Tsunami," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 75(1), pages 9-25, July.
    4. Unknown, 2014. "Media Coverage 2014," 2014: Ethics, Efficiency and Food Security: Feeding the 9 Billion, Well, 26-28 August 2014 225573, Crawford Fund.
    5. Yermack, David, 1996. "Higher market valuation of companies with a small board of directors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 185-211, February.
    6. Yihui Pan & Tracy Yue Wang & Michael S. Weisbach, 2015. "Learning About CEO Ability and Stock Return Volatility," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(6), pages 1623-1666.
    7. Solomon, David H. & Soltes, Eugene & Sosyura, Denis, 2014. "Winners in the spotlight: Media coverage of fund holdings as a driver of flows," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 53-72.
    8. Deng, Xin & Kang, Jun-koo & Low, Buen Sin, 2013. "Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder value maximization: Evidence from mergers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 87-109.
    9. Cronqvist, Henrik & Yu, Frank, 2017. "Shaped by their daughters: Executives, female socialization, and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(3), pages 543-562.
    10. Ding, Wenzhi & Levine, Ross & Lin, Chen & Xie, Wensi, 2021. "Corporate immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 802-830.
    11. Cahan, Steven F. & Chen, Chen & Chen, Li & Nguyen, Nhut H., 2015. "Corporate social responsibility and media coverage," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 409-422.
    12. Paul C. Tetlock & Maytal Saar‐Tsechansky & Sofus Macskassy, 2008. "More Than Words: Quantifying Language to Measure Firms' Fundamentals," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(3), pages 1437-1467, June.
    13. John M. Griffin & Nicholas H. Hirschey & Patrick J. Kelly, 2011. "How Important Is the Financial Media in Global Markets?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(12), pages 3941-3992.
    14. X. Xu & S. Zeng & C. Tam, 2012. "Stock Market’s Reaction to Disclosure of Environmental Violations: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 107(2), pages 227-237, May.
    15. Kenneth R. Ahern & Denis Sosyura, 2014. "Who Writes the News? Corporate Press Releases during Merger Negotiations," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(1), pages 241-291, February.
    16. Lin, Yongjia Rebecca & Fu, Xiaoqing Maggie, 2017. "Does institutional ownership influence firm performance? Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 17-57.
    17. Lily Fang & Joel Peress, 2009. "Media Coverage and the Cross‐section of Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(5), pages 2023-2052, October.
    18. Francois Gourio, 2012. "Disaster Risk and Business Cycles," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2734-2766, October.
    19. Peter Klibanoff & Owen Lamont & Thierry A. Wizman, 1998. "Investor Reaction to Salient News in Closed-End Country Funds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(2), pages 673-699, April.
    20. Casey Dougal & Joseph Engelberg & Diego García & Christopher A. Parsons, 2012. "Journalists and the Stock Market," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(3), pages 639-679.
    21. David H. Solomon, 2012. "Selective Publicity and Stock Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(2), pages 599-638, April.
    22. Mouna Abdelhédi-Zouch & Mouna Boujelbène Abbes & Younès Boujelbène, 2015. "Volatility Spillover And Investor Sentiment: Subprime Crisis," Asian Academy of Management Journal of Accounting and Finance (AAMJAF), Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, vol. 11(2), pages 83-101.
    23. Jarrad Harford & Sattar A. Mansi & William F. Maxwell, 2012. "Corporate Governance and Firm Cash Holdings in the U.S," Springer Books, in: Sabri Boubaker & Bang Dang Nguyen & Duc Khuong Nguyen (ed.), Corporate Governance, edition 127, pages 107-138, Springer.
    24. Chung, Kee H. & Zhang, Hao, 2011. "Corporate Governance and Institutional Ownership," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(1), pages 247-273, February.
    25. Xingqiang Du & Wei Jian & Quan Zeng & Yingjie Du, 2014. "Corporate Environmental Responsibility in Polluting Industries: Does Religion Matter?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(3), pages 485-507, October.
    26. Berkman, Henk & Jacobsen, Ben & Lee, John B., 2011. "Time-varying rare disaster risk and stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(2), pages 313-332, August.
    27. Joseph E. Engelberg & Christopher A. Parsons, 2011. "The Causal Impact of Media in Financial Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(1), pages 67-97, February.
    28. Hoje Jo & Hakkon Kim & Kwangwoo Park, 2015. "Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Firm Performance in the Financial Services Sector," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(2), pages 257-284, October.
    29. Gao, Ming & Liu, Yu-Jane & Shi, Yushui, 2020. "Do people feel less at risk? Evidence from disaster experience," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(3), pages 866-888.
    30. Chiu, Junmao & Chung, Huimin & Ho, Keng-Yu & Wu, Chih-Chiang, 2018. "Investor sentiment and evaporating liquidity during the financial crisis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 21-36.
    31. Paul C. Tetlock, 2007. "Giving Content to Investor Sentiment: The Role of Media in the Stock Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(3), pages 1139-1168, June.
    32. Dhaliwal, Dan & Judd, J. Scott & Serfling, Matthew & Shaikh, Sarah, 2016. "Customer concentration risk and the cost of equity capital," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 23-48.
    33. Kel Dummett, 2006. "Drivers for Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER)," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 375-389, August.
    34. X. D. Xu & S. X. Zeng & H. L. Zou & Jonathan J. Shi, 2016. "The Impact of Corporate Environmental Violation on Shareholders' Wealth: a Perspective Taken from Media Coverage," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 73-91, February.
    35. Doowon Ryu & Doojin Ryu & Heejin Yang, 2020. "Investor Sentiment, Market Competition, and Financial Crisis: Evidence from the Korean Stock Market," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(8), pages 1804-1816, June.
    36. Robert D. Klassen & Curtis P. McLaughlin, 1996. "The Impact of Environmental Management on Firm Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(8), pages 1199-1214, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nerea Alejandra Ramírez-Castillo & Jéssica Müller-Pérez & Ángel Acevedo-Duque & Sheyla Müller-Pérez & Romel Ramón González-Díaz & Jorge Suarez Campos & Luiz Vicente Ovalles-Toledo, 2021. "Sustainable Moviegoer Intention to Attend Cinemas Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-20, August.
    2. Stephen P. Ferris & Sulgi Koo & Kwangwoo Park & David T. Yi, 2022. "The Effects of Hosting Mega Sporting Events on Local Stock Markets and Sustainable Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Thiago Christiano Silva & Fabiano José Muniz & Benjamin Miranda Tabak, 2023. "The Impact of Government Disaster Surveillance and Alerts on Local Economic and Financial Conditions," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(2), pages 559-591, February.

    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. Buehlmaier, Matthias M. M. & Zechner, Josef, 2016. "Financial media, price discovery, and merger arbitrage," CFS Working Paper Series 551, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).
    2. Bonsall, Samuel B. & Green, Jeremiah & Muller, Karl A., 2020. "Market uncertainty and the importance of media coverage at earnings announcements," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1).
    3. Cahan, Steven F. & Chen, Chen & Chen, Li & Nguyen, Nhut H., 2015. "Corporate social responsibility and media coverage," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 409-422.
    4. Chau, Michael & Lin, Chih-Yung & Lin, Tse-Chun, 2020. "Wisdom of crowds before the 2007–2009 global financial crisis," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    5. Chouliaras, Andreas, 2016. "The Effect of Infomation on Financial Markets: A Survey," MPRA Paper 71396, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Naumer, Hans-Jörg & Yurtoglu, Burcin, 2022. "It is not only what you say, but how you say it: ESG, corporate news, and the impact on CDS spreads," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    7. Robert M. Bushman & Christopher D. Williams & Regina Wittenberg‐Moerman, 2017. "The Informational Role of the Media in Private Lending," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 115-152, March.
    8. Tsileponis, Nikolaos & Stathopoulos, Konstantinos & Walker, Martin, 2020. "Do corporate press releases drive media coverage?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    9. Liao, Rose & Wang, Xinjie & Wu, Ge, 2021. "The role of media in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    10. Angelos J. Doukas & Jie (Michael) Guo & Herbert Y. T. Lam & Sarah (Hong) Xiao, 2016. "Media Endorsements of New Product Announcements: A New Marketing Strategy," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 22(3), pages 394-426, June.
    11. Call, Andrew C. & Emett, Scott A. & Maksymov, Eldar & Sharp, Nathan Y., 2022. "Meet the press: Survey evidence on financial journalists as information intermediaries," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2).
    12. Rui Fan & Oleksandr Talavera & Vu Tran, 2020. "Social media bots and stock markets," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 26(3), pages 753-777, June.
    13. Liu, Sha & Han, Jingguang, 2020. "Media tone and expected stock returns," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    14. Yi Li & Dehua Shen & Pengfei Wang & Wei Zhang, 2021. "Investor reactions to local and overseas news: Evidence from A‐ and H‐shares in China," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 4190-4225, July.
    15. Jacobs, Heiko, 2020. "Hype or help? Journalists’ perceptions of mispriced stocks," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 550-565.
    16. Salim Chahine & Gonul Colak & Iftekhar Hasan & Mohamad Mazboudi, 2020. "Investor relations and IPO performance," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 474-512, June.
    17. Löffler, Gunter & Norden, Lars & Rieber, Alexander, 2021. "Negative news and the stock market impact of tone in rating reports," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    18. Betton, Sandra & Davis, Frederick & Walker, Thomas, 2018. "Rumor rationales: The impact of message justification on article credibility," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 271-287.
    19. Mazboudi, Mohamad & Khalil, Samer, 2017. "The attenuation effect of social media: Evidence from acquisitions by large firms," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 115-124.
    20. Joel Peress, 2014. "The Media and the Diffusion of Information in Financial Markets: Evidence from Newspaper Strikes," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(5), pages 2007-2043, October.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:559-:d:477197. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.