IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v59y2024ics1544612323010693.html

Climate risk exposure and geographical allocation of business activities: Evidence from Chinese listed companies

Author

Listed:
  • Sun, Yuan
  • Sun, Xiaowei
  • Wang, Zehao

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of climate risk on firms’ geographical allocation of business activities. The result shows that climate risk exposure has a positive effect on firms’ allocation of subsidiaries across different regions, and the result holds after robustness tests. We further find that the positive relationship between firms’ climate risk exposure and cross-regional investment is more pronounced for firms with more cash holdings, with greater geographical proximity between the parent and existing subsidiaries and for non-state-owned enterprises. The economic consequence test suggests that cross-regional investment significantly improves investment efficiency when firms are exposed to higher degree of climate risk. Overall, our paper indicates that firms can change investment strategies in response to climate risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Sun, Yuan & Sun, Xiaowei & Wang, Zehao, 2024. "Climate risk exposure and geographical allocation of business activities: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:59:y:2024:i:c:s1544612323010693
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2023.104697
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612323010693
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2023.104697?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edith Ginglinger & Quentin Moreau, 2023. "Climate Risk and Capital Structure," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(12), pages 7492-7516, December.
    2. Xavier Giroud & Joshua Rauh, 2019. "State Taxation and the Reallocation of Business Activity: Evidence from Establishment-Level Data," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(3), pages 1262-1316.
    3. Daron Acemoglu & Pablo D. Azar, 2020. "Endogenous Production Networks," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(1), pages 33-82, January.
    4. Darwin Choi & Zhenyu Gao & Wenxi Jiang, 2020. "Attention to Global Warming," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 1112-1145.
    5. Santi, Caterina, 2023. "Investor climate sentiment and financial markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    6. Dessaint, Olivier & Matray, Adrien, 2017. "Do managers overreact to salient risks? Evidence from hurricane strikes," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(1), pages 97-121.
    7. Tarek A Hassan & Stephan Hollander & Laurence van Lent & Ahmed Tahoun, 2019. "Firm-Level Political Risk: Measurement and Effects," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(4), pages 2135-2202.
    8. Yongqiang Chu & Xuan Tian & Wenyu Wang, 2019. "Corporate Innovation Along the Supply Chain," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(6), pages 2445-2466, June.
    9. Painter, Marcus, 2020. "An inconvenient cost: The effects of climate change on municipal bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(2), pages 468-482.
    10. Li, Yunhe & Zhang, Zhaolong, 2023. "Corporate climate risk exposure and capital structure: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    11. Huynh, Thanh D. & Nguyen, Thu Ha & Truong, Cameron, 2020. "Climate risk: The price of drought," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    12. Lee, Sang Ho & Choi, Daewoung Joey & Han, Seung Hun, 2023. "Corporate cash holdings in response to climate risk and policies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PA).
    13. Philipp Krueger & Zacharias Sautner & Laura T Starks, 2020. "The Importance of Climate Risks for Institutional Investors," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 1067-1111.
    14. Gong, Xu & Fu, Chengbo & Huang, Qiping & Lin, Meimei, 2022. "International political uncertainty and climate risk in the stock market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    15. Tarun Khanna & Yishay Yafeh, 2007. "Business Groups in Emerging Markets: Paragons or Parasites?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 331-372, June.
    16. Gao, Wenlian & Ng, Lilian & Wang, Qinghai, 2008. "Does geographic dispersion affect firm valuation?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 674-687, December.
    17. Ahern, Kenneth R. & Daminelli, Daniele & Fracassi, Cesare, 2015. "Lost in translation? The effect of cultural values on mergers around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 165-189.
    18. Dai, Yixin & Hou, Jiani & Li, Xing, 2021. "Industry policy, cross-region investment, and enterprise investment efficiency," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    19. 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.
    20. Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1994. "Politicians and Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(4), pages 995-1025.
    21. Jun‐Koo Kang & Jin‐Mo Kim, 2008. "The Geography of Block Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(6), pages 2817-2858, December.
    22. Henry He Huang & Joseph Kerstein & Chong Wang & Feng (Harry) Wu, 2022. "Firm climate risk, risk management, and bank loan financing," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(13), pages 2849-2880, December.
    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. Jiang, Chuyu & Li, Yating & Zhang, Xuan & Zhao, Yang, 2025. "Climate risk and corporate debt decision," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    2. Hu, Bin & Xu, Qian, 2025. "Environmental regulation penalties and corporate environmental information disclosure," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    3. Li, Wanli & Luo, Dan & Cheng, Teng-Yuan, 2025. "Strategy choices in strategic risk-taking: Does climate risk matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    4. Benhong Peng & Fei Gao, 2026. "Fortune or Misfortune? Climate Risk and Corporate ESG Performance," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 17(2), pages 5097-5144, April.
    5. Jinli Wang & Qiyong Xiao & Xin Han, 2026. "Curbing Corporate Environmental, Social and Governance Greenwashing Through Centralisation of Environmental Monitoring: Evidence From China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 66(1), pages 657-694, March.
    6. Xu, Wenshuai & Peng, Jianfei & Wu, Yun-Lang & Yin, Yahua, 2025. "Climate risk and corporate leverage manipulation: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    7. Chen, Zhengqi & Li, Fang, 2025. "Financial geography, business environment, and regional innovation level," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(PG).
    8. Liu, Yuying, 2024. "Climate risk perception, female directors and greenwashing," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 70(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. Xing Chen & Fenghua Wen & Jinli Xiao & Gary Gang Tian, 2025. "Weathering the Risk: How Climate Uncertainty Fuels Corporate Fraud," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 201(2), pages 519-547, October.
    2. Agoraki, Konstantina K. & Giaka, Maria & Konstantios, Dimitrios & Negkakis, Ioannis, 2024. "The relationship between firm-level climate change exposure, financial integration, cost of capital and investment efficiency," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    3. Li, Wanli & Luo, Dan & Cheng, Teng-Yuan, 2025. "Strategy choices in strategic risk-taking: Does climate risk matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    4. Benhong Peng & Fei Gao, 2026. "Fortune or Misfortune? Climate Risk and Corporate ESG Performance," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 17(2), pages 5097-5144, April.
    5. Choi, Sanghak & Jung, Hail & Kim, Daejin, 2025. "Climate change risk and the marginal value of cash holdings," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    6. Jiao, Anqi & Sun, Ran & Ren, Honglin, 2025. "Navigating climate policy: Corporate lobbying strategies in response to intensified climate risk exposure," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    7. Basha, Shabeen Afsar & Benkraiem, Ramzi & Ben-Nasr, Hamdi & Masum, Abdullah-Al, 2025. "Does political risk exacerbate climate risk? Firm-level evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 104(PA).
    8. Mbanyele, William & Muchenje, Linda Tinofirei, 2022. "Climate change exposure, risk management and corporate social responsibility: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    9. Liang, Yuchao & Tan, Qi & Pang, Jun, 2024. "Bless or curse, how does extreme temperature shape heavy pollution companies' ESG performance?-Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    10. Lai, Fujun & Cheng, Xianli & Li, An & Xiong, Deping & Li, Yunzhong, 2025. "Does flood risk affect the implied cost of equity capital?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    11. Jiang, Chuyu & Li, Yating & Zhang, Xuan & Zhao, Yang, 2025. "Climate risk and corporate debt decision," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    12. Huang, Zhen & Dou, Tianyu, 2026. "The spillover effect of customer extreme climate risk: Evidence from supplier trade credit," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    13. Wang, Yuhui & Huang, Zhen & Jia, Ming, 2026. "Firm-level real climate risk, institutional investors, and green innovation," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    14. Su, Yueying & Li, Jialong & Li, Zhicheng & Wu, Cathy, 2025. "CEO inside debt holdings and climate risk concerns in corporate acquisition," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    15. Assil Guizani & Hamza Nizar & Faten Lakhal & Taher Hamza & Ramzi Benkraiem, 2025. "Does climate risk vulnerability affect the value of excess cash? International evidence," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(3), pages 2662-2681, July.
    16. A. Hossain & A.-A. Masum & S. Saadi & R. Benkraiem & N. Das, 2023. "Firm-Level Climate Change Risk and CEO Equity Incentives," Post-Print hal-04434397, HAL.
    17. Ferdous, Lutfa Tilat & Atawnah, Nader & Yeboah, Richard & Zhou, Yifan, 2024. "Firm-level climate risk and accounting conservatism: International evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PC).
    18. Zheng, Chen & Sun, Zhiyue, 2025. "Organisation capital: A key asset for mitigating firm-level climate change exposure," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3).
    19. Thomas Bassetti & Lorenzo Dal Maso & Valentina Pieroni, 2025. "Firms’ borrowing costs and neighbors’ flood risk," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 64(3), pages 917-933, March.
    20. Jinyu Chen & Xinyu Guo & Yuan Geng & Ran Liu, 2025. "Climate risk and trade credit financing: Evidence from China," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(3), pages 2514-2535, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

    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:finlet:v:59:y:2024:i:c:s1544612323010693. 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/frl .

    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.