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Financial Constraints and Corporate Environmental Policies

Author

Listed:
  • Qiping Xu
  • Taehyun Kim

Abstract

This paper documents evidence that financial constraints increase firms’ toxic emissions given that firms actively trade off abatement costs against potential legal liabilities. Exploring three quasi-natural experiments in which firms’ financial resources are likely exogenously affected, we find that relaxing financial constraints reduces U.S. public firms’ toxic releases. The effects of financial constraints on toxic releases are amplified when regulatory enforcement and external monitoring weaken. Overall, our evidence highlights the real effects of financial constraints in the form of environmental pollution, which is a costly negative externality imposed on society and public health.

Suggested Citation

  • Qiping Xu & Taehyun Kim, 2022. "Financial Constraints and Corporate Environmental Policies," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(2), pages 576-635.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:35:y:2022:i:2:p:576-635.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rfs/hhab056
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Janet Gao & Wenting Ma & Qiping Xu, 2023. "Access to Financing and Racial Pay Gap Inside Firms," Working Papers 23-36, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    2. Ralph De Haas & Ralf Martin & Mirabelle Muuls & Helena Schweiger, 2022. "Managerial and financial barriers during the green transition," CEP Discussion Papers dp1837, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Zhang, Ming-ang & Lu, Shuling & Zhang, Sihan & Bai, Yanfeng, 2023. "The unintended consequence of minimum wage hikes: Evidence based on firms' pollution emission," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    4. Cheng, Xiaoqiang & Yao, Dingjun & Qian, Yuanyuan & Wang, Bin & Zhang, Deliang, 2023. "How does fintech influence carbon emissions: Evidence from China's prefecture-level cities," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    5. Martinsson, Gustav & Sajtos, László & Strömberg, Per & Thomann, Christian, 2022. "Carbon Pricing and Firm-Level CO2 Abatement: Evidence from a Quarter of a Century-Long Panel," Misum Working Paper Series 2022-10, Stockholm School of Economics, Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets (Misum).
    6. Jake Thomas & Wentao Yao & Frank Zhang & Wei Zhu, 2022. "Meet, beat, and pollute," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 1038-1078, September.
    7. Dongmin Kong & Jia Liu & Yanan Wang & Ling Zhu, 2024. "Employee Stock Ownership Plans and Corporate Environmental Engagement," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(1), pages 177-199, January.
    8. Dang, Tri Vi & Wang, Youan & Wang, Zigan, 2022. "The role of financial constraints in firm investment under pollution abatement regulation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    9. Cohn, Jonathan B. & Liu, Zack & Wardlaw, Malcolm I., 2022. "Count (and count-like) data in finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 529-551.
    10. Chen, Zhongfei & Xie, Guanxia, 2022. "ESG disclosure and financial performance: Moderating role of ESG investors," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    11. Zhang, Zehua & Zhao, Ran, 2022. "Carbon emission and credit default swaps," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    12. Lu, Angdi & Zhang, Jiang & Li, Jie, 2023. "The impact of export VAT rebate reduction on firms' pollution emissions: Evidence from Chinese enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    13. Magnus Schauf & Eline Schoonjans, 2022. "Better Safe than Sorry: Toxic Waste Management after Unionization," Working Papers 220, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    14. Xiuli Sun & Cui Zhou & Zhuojiong Gan, 2023. "Green Finance Policy and ESG Performance: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-27, April.
    15. Bakke, Tor-Erik & Feng, Felix Zhiyu & Mahmudi, Hamed & Zhu, Caroline H., 2022. "Foreign competition and CEO risk-incentive compensation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    16. Döttling, Robin & Rola-Janicka, Magdalena, 2023. "Too levered for Pigou: carbon pricing, financial constraints, and leverage regulation," Working Paper Series 2812, European Central Bank.
    17. Li, Wen & Peng, Qing, 2023. "Digital courts and corporate investment in sustainability: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    18. Christian Espinosa-Méndez & Carlos P. Maquieira & José T. Arias, 2023. "The Impact of ESG Performance on the Value of Family Firms: The Moderating Role of Financial Constraints and Agency Problems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, April.
    19. Liu, Xiaojuan & Chen, Xiaoyijing & Deng, Baijun, 2023. "The effect of the government's green grip: Evidence from government-initiated corporate environmental ratings and corporate debt financing," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    20. Po‐Hsuan Hsu & Kai Li & Chi‐Yang Tsou, 2023. "The Pollution Premium," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 78(3), pages 1343-1392, June.
    21. De Haas, Ralph & Martin, Ralf & Muuls, Mirabelle & Schweiger, Helena, 2022. "Managerial and Financial Barriers to the Green Transition," CEPR Discussion Papers 15886, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    22. Gaganis, Chrysovalantis & Galariotis, Emilios & Pasiouras, Fotios & Tasiou, Menelaos, 2023. "Managerial ability and corporate greenhouse gas emissions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 438-453.
    23. Hu, Xiaolu & Yu, Jing & Zhong, Angel, 2023. "The asymmetric effects of oil price shocks on green innovation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • K32 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Energy, Environmental, Health, and Safety Law
    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General

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