IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v110y2017icp410-421.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Shareholder value effects of corporate carbon trading: Empirical evidence from market reaction towards Clean Development Mechanism in China

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Bin
  • Lai, Kee-hung
  • Wang, Bo
  • Wang, Zhaohua

Abstract

Are shareholders sensitive to corporate initiative of implementing Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects? And if so, what are the key factors that influence the corresponding abnormal return to enterprises? To answer these questions, we employed an event study methodology to evaluate the stock market reaction to the CDM projects certification in China since 2005. We illuminated three sources of ambiguity in the relationship between corporate CDM initiatives and shareholder value, namely the impacts from time, CDM types, and credits of carbon emission reduction (CER). Our empirical results showed that the CDM initiatives could benefit corporate shareholder values. The expected CER credit is the main driver for the increase in shareholder value. However, we also found that the positive shareholder value effect of CDM decreases over time. In particular, industrial gas CDM projects rather than renewable energy and energy efficiency projects are preferred by shareholders; but there are no significant differences in the shareholder value effect between bilateral contracting and unilateral implementation. This paper advanced knowledge on the shareholder value effect of corporate CDM initiatives, and more generally, the impact of corporate carbon trading on financial performance of enterprises in an emerging country context.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Bin & Lai, Kee-hung & Wang, Bo & Wang, Zhaohua, 2017. "Shareholder value effects of corporate carbon trading: Empirical evidence from market reaction towards Clean Development Mechanism in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 410-421.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:110:y:2017:i:c:p:410-421
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.08.028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421517305311
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.08.028?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. Shameek Konar & Mark A. Cohen, 2001. "Does The Market Value Environmental Performance?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(2), pages 281-289, May.
    2. Brian W. Jacobs, 2014. "Shareholder Value Effects of Voluntary Emissions Reduction," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 23(11), pages 1859-1874, November.
    3. Rob Youngman & Jake Schmidt & Jin Lee & Heleen De Coninck, 2007. "Evaluating technology transfer in the Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(6), pages 488-499, November.
    4. Michael Spence, 2002. "Signaling in Retrospect and the Informational Structure of Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(3), pages 434-459, June.
    5. Kathy Babiak & Sylvia Trendafilova, 2011. "CSR and environmental responsibility: motives and pressures to adopt green management practices," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), pages 11-24, January.
    6. Marie‐Josée Roy & Olivier Boiral & Denis Lagacé, 2001. "Environmental commitment and manufacturing excellence: a comparative study within Canadian industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(5), pages 257-268, September.
    7. Bayer, Patrick & Marcoux, Christopher & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2013. "Leveraging private capital for climate mitigation: Evidence from the Clean Development Mechanism," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 14-24.
    8. Uddin, Noim & Blommerde, Mascha & Taplin, Ros & Laurence, David, 2015. "Sustainable development outcomes of coal mine methane clean development mechanism Projects in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-9.
    9. Axel Michaelowa, 2007. "Unilateral CDM—can developing countries finance generation of greenhouse gas emission credits on their own?," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 17-34, March.
    10. Stuart L. Hart & Gautam Ahuja, 1996. "Does It Pay To Be Green? An Empirical Examination Of The Relationship Between Emission Reduction And Firm Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(1), pages 30-37, March.
    11. Nikos Tsikriktsis, 2007. "The Effect of Operational Performance and Focus on Profitability: A Longitudinal Study of the U.S. Airline Industry," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 9(4), pages 506-517, April.
    12. Fama, Eugene F, 1991. "Efficient Capital Markets: II," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(5), pages 1575-1617, December.
    13. Sheng-Syan Chen & Kim Wai Ho & Kueh Hwa Ik, 2005. "The Wealth Effect of New Product Introductions on Industry Rivals," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(3), pages 969-996, May.
    14. James Kroes & Ravi Subramanian & Ramanath Subramanyam, 2012. "Operational Compliance Levers, Environmental Performance, and Firm Performance Under Cap and Trade Regulation," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 186-201, April.
    15. Sarkis, Joseph & Presley, Adrien & Liles, Donald, 1997. "The strategic evaluation of candidate business process reengineering projects," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 261-274, June.
    16. Higgins, Matthew J. & Stephan, Paula E. & Thursby, Jerry G., 2011. "Conveying quality and value in emerging industries: Star scientists and the role of signals in biotechnology," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 605-617, May.
    17. Fisher-Vanden, Karen & Thorburn, Karin S., 2011. "Voluntary corporate environmental initiatives and shareholder wealth," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 430-445.
    18. Andrew King & Michael Lenox, 2002. "Exploring the Locus of Profitable Pollution Reduction," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(2), pages 289-299, February.
    19. Zhang, Chi & Yan, Jinyue, 2015. "CDM’s influence on technology transfers: A study of the implemented clean development mechanism projects in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 355-365.
    20. Dong, Huijuan & Ohnishi, Satoshi & Fujita, Tsuyoshi & Geng, Yong & Fujii, Minoru & Dong, Liang, 2014. "Achieving carbon emission reduction through industrial & urban symbiosis: A case of Kawasaki," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 277-286.
    21. Hayagreeva Rao, 1994. "The Social Construction of Reputation: Certification Contests, Legitimation, and the Survival of Organizations in the American Automobile Industry: 1895–1912," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(S1), pages 29-44, December.
    22. Spence, Michael, 1974. "Competitive and optimal responses to signals: An analysis of efficiency and distribution," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 296-332, March.
    23. Zhang, Junjie & Wang, Can, 2011. "Co-benefits and additionality of the clean development mechanism: An empirical analysis," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 140-154, September.
    24. Heleen De Coninck & Frauke Haake & Nico Van Der Linden, 2007. "Technology transfer in the Clean Development Mechanism," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(5), pages 444-456, September.
    25. Forest Reinhardt, 1999. "Market Failure and the Environmental Policies of Firms: Economic Rationales for “Beyond Compliance” Behavior," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 3(1), pages 9-21, January.
    26. Brown, Stephen J. & Warner, Jerold B., 1985. "Using daily stock returns : The case of event studies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 3-31, March.
    27. Lewis, Joanna I., 2010. "The evolving role of carbon finance in promoting renewable energy development in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 2875-2886, June.
    28. Maraseni, Tek Narayan, 2013. "Selecting a CDM investor in China: A critical analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 484-489.
    29. Kimitaka Nishitani, 2011. "An Empirical Analysis of the Effects on Firms’ Economic Performance of Implementing Environmental Management Systems," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 48(4), pages 569-586, April.
    30. Erin M. Reid & Michael W. Toffel, 2009. "Responding to public and private politics: corporate disclosure of climate change strategies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(11), pages 1157-1178, November.
    31. Erin Marie Reid & Michael W. Toffel, 2008. "Responding to Public and Private Politics: Corporate Disclosure of Climate Change Strategies," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-019, Harvard Business School, revised Jun 2009.
    32. Lihui Tian & Wei Zhang, 2014. "Extreme IPO underpricing," Nankai Business Review International, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 5(2), pages 225-255, May.
    33. Rahman, Shaikh M. & Kirkman, Grant A., 2015. "Costs of certified emission reductions under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 129-141.
    34. Paul C. Godfrey & Craig B. Merrill & Jared M. Hansen, 2009. "The relationship between corporate social responsibility and shareholder value: an empirical test of the risk management hypothesis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 425-445, April.
    35. 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. Lai, Kee-hung & Feng, Yunting & Zhu, Qinghua, 2023. "Digital transformation for green supply chain innovation in manufacturing operations," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    2. Li, Yiming & Wang, Zhaohua & He, Weijun & Zhao, Yuandong & Xu, Ming & Zhang, Bin, 2021. "Critical transmission sectors for CO2 emission mitigation in supply chains," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    3. Olivier Boiral & Marie‐Christine Brotherton & Léo Rivaud & David Talbot, 2022. "Comparing the uncomparable? An investigation of car manufacturers' climate performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2213-2229, July.
    4. Zainorfarah Zainuddin & Mohammad Iranmanesh & Ming‐Lang Tseng & Behzad Foroughi & Tengku Adeline Adura Tengku Hamzah, 2021. "Clean development mechanism implementation: External and organizational factors drives expected business benefits," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 3444-3453, December.
    5. Feng, Yunting & Lai, Kee-hung & Zhu, Qinghua, 2022. "Green supply chain innovation: Emergence, adoption, and challenges," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    6. Guo, Mengmeng & Kuai, Yicheng & Liu, Xiaoyan, 2020. "Stock market response to environmental policies: Evidence from heavily polluting firms in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 306-316.
    7. Di Chen & Yue Wang & Yang Wen & Honglin Du & Xue Tan & Lei Shi & Zhong Ma, 2021. "Does Environmental Policy Help Green Industry? Evidence from China’s Promotion of Municipal Solid Waste Sorting," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-15, March.
    8. Yuan Chen & Vinod Singhal & Qinghua Zhu, 2021. "Environmental policies and financial performance: stock market reaction to firms for their proactive environmental practices recognized by governmental programs," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1548-1562, May.
    9. Elie, Luc & Granier, Caroline & Rigot, Sandra, 2021. "The different types of renewable energy finance: A Bibliometric analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    10. Chung-Hao Chang & Shih-Fang Lo, 2022. "Impact Analysis of a National and Corporate Carbon Emission Reduction Target on Renewable Electricity Use: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-18, February.
    11. Chen, Haitao & Zhang, Bin & Wang, Zhaohua, 2022. "Hidden inequality in household electricity consumption: Measurement and determinants based on large-scale smart meter data," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    12. Chai, Qiangfei & Xiao, Zhongdong & Lai, Kee-hung & Zhou, Guanghui, 2018. "Can carbon cap and trade mechanism be beneficial for remanufacturing?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 311-321.
    13. Liu, Lu & Feng, Lipan & Jiang, Tao & Zhang, Qian, 2021. "The impact of supply chain competition on the introduction of clean development mechanisms," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).

    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. David Bendig & Andreas Wagner & Kevin Lau, 2023. "Does it pay to be science‐based green? The impact of science‐based emission‐reduction targets on corporate financial performance," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(1), pages 125-140, February.
    2. Lyon, Thomas & Lu, Yao & Shi, Xinzheng & Yin, Qie, 2013. "How do investors respond to Green Company Awards in China?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 1-8.
    3. Wayne Fu & Basak Kalkanci & Ravi Subramanian, 2019. "Are Hazardous Substance Rankings Effective? An Empirical Investigation of Information Dissemination About the Relative Hazards of Chemicals and Emissions Reductions," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 21(3), pages 602-619, July.
    4. Xiaoyang Li & Yue Maggie Zhou, 2016. "Offshoring Pollution While Offshoring Production," Working Papers 16-09, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    5. Nahyun Kim & Jon J. Moon & Haitao Yin, 2016. "Environmental Pressure and the Performance of Foreign Firms in an Emerging Economy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 475-490, September.
    6. Stephen Bahadar & Muhammad Nadeem & Rashid Zaman, 2023. "Toxic chemical releases and idiosyncratic return volatility: A prospect theory perspective," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 2109-2143, June.
    7. Timo Busch & Nils Lehmann & Volker H. Hoffmann, 2012. "Corporate Social Responsibility, Negative Externalities, and Financial Risk: The Case of Climate Change," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 12-102/IV/DSF40, Tinbergen Institute.
    8. Fisher-Vanden, Karen & Thorburn, Karin S., 2011. "Voluntary corporate environmental initiatives and shareholder wealth," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 430-445.
    9. Kimitaka Nishitani & M.B. Haider & Katsuhiko Kokubu, 2014. "Corporate Environmental Initiatives and Shareholder Value: Focusing on the Role of Environmental Information and Its Credibility," Discussion Paper Series DP2014-13, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    10. Christian C. Blanco, 2021. "Supply Chain Carbon Footprinting and Climate Change Disclosures of Global Firms," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(9), pages 3143-3160, September.
    11. Kimitaka Nishitani & Shinji Kaneko & Satoru Komatsu & Hidemichi Fujii, 2011. "Firm's reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and economic performance: analyzing effects through demand and productivity," IDEC DP2 Series 1-1, Hiroshima University, Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation (IDEC).
    12. Ruiqian Li & Ramakrishnan Ramanathan, 2018. "Impacts of Industrial Heterogeneity and Technical Innovation on the Relationship between Environmental Performance and Financial Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-25, May.
    13. Misani, Nicola & Pogutz, Stefano, 2015. "Unraveling the effects of environmental outcomes and processes on financial performance: A non-linear approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 150-160.
    14. Mohammed Bouaddi & Mohamed A. K. Basuony & Neveen Noureldin, 2023. "The Heterogenous Effects of Carbon Emissions and Board Gender Diversity on a Firm’s Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-20, October.
    15. Soyoung Yoo & Jiyong Eom & Ingoo Han, 2020. "Too Costly to Disregard: The Cost Competitiveness of Environmental Operating Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-29, July.
    16. Jan Endrikat, 2016. "Market Reactions to Corporate Environmental Performance Related Events: A Meta-analytic Consolidation of the Empirical Evidence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 138(3), pages 535-548, October.
    17. Denise M. Keele & Susan DeHart, 2011. "Partners of USEPA Climate Leaders: an Event Study on Stock Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(8), pages 485-497, December.
    18. Homroy, Swarnodeep, 2023. "GHG emissions and firm performance: The role of CEO gender socialization," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    19. Eng, Li Li & Fikru, Mahelet G. & Vichitsarawong, Thanyaluk, 2021. "The impact of toxic chemical releases and their management on financial performance," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    20. Suhong Li & Thomas Ngniatedema & Fang Chen, 2017. "Understanding the Impact of Green Initiatives and Green Performance on Financial Performance in the US," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(6), pages 776-790, September.

    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:enepol:v:110:y:2017:i:c:p:410-421. 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/enpol .

    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.