IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v71y2025ics154461232401465x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Navigating climate policy uncertainty: Impacts on continuous innovation in corporations

Author

Listed:
  • Ling, Shixian
  • Xia, Hui
  • Liu, Zhangxin (Frank)
  • Treepongkaruna, Sirimon
  • Haroon, Samara

Abstract

We explore the impact of Climate Policy Uncertainty (CPU) on continuous innovation within enterprises amid the escalating challenges of climate change. By applying textual analysis to quantify CPU in China, our findings reveal a significant positive relationship between CPU and continuous innovation. CPU emerges as a significant driver of continuous innovation, which holds up against various robustness and endogeneity checks. Specifically, CPU fosters innovation by promoting greater international diversity on boards and reducing inefficient investments. Our paper highlights the strategic importance of embracing policy-induced uncertainty as an opportunity for advancing innovation and green transformation.

Suggested Citation

  • Ling, Shixian & Xia, Hui & Liu, Zhangxin (Frank) & Treepongkaruna, Sirimon & Haroon, Samara, 2025. "Navigating climate policy uncertainty: Impacts on continuous innovation in corporations," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:71:y:2025:i:c:s154461232401465x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2024.106436
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S154461232401465X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2024.106436?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. Huang, Yun & Luk, Paul, 2020. "Measuring economic policy uncertainty in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. Du, Yanan & Guo, Qunna, 2023. "Green credit policy and green innovation in green industries: Does climate policy uncertainty matter?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PC).
    3. Bai, Dongbei & Du, Lizhao & Xu, Yang & Abbas, Shujaat, 2023. "Climate policy uncertainty and corporate green innovation: Evidence from Chinese A-share listed industrial corporations," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PB).
    4. Golub, Alexander A. & Lubowski, Ruben N. & Piris-Cabezas, Pedro, 2020. "Business responses to climate policy uncertainty: Theoretical analysis of a twin deferral strategy and the risk-adjusted price of carbon," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    5. Xuan Tian & Tracy Yue Wang, 2014. "Tolerance for Failure and Corporate Innovation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 211-255, January.
    6. Ahmad, Muhammad Farooq & Aziz, Saqib & Dowling, Michael & Kowalewski, Oskar, 2023. "Board reforms and innovation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    7. Fuss, Sabine & Szolgayova, Jana & Obersteiner, Michael & Gusti, Mykola, 2008. "Investment under market and climate policy uncertainty," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(8), pages 708-721, August.
    8. Liu, Yuanyuan & Li, Jing & Liu, Guanchun & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty and firm’s cash holding in China: The key role of asset reversibility," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    9. Zeng, Qing & Ma, Feng & Lu, Xinjie & Xu, Weiju, 2022. "Policy uncertainty and carbon neutrality: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    10. Mathias, Blake D. & Williams, David W. & Smith, Adam R., 2015. "Entrepreneurial inception: The role of imprinting in entrepreneurial action," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 11-28.
    11. Khanh Hoang & Thanh Tat Tran, 2022. "Policy uncertainty and intellectual capital investment," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(15), pages 1369-1377, September.
    12. 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.
    13. Liang, Chao & Umar, Muhammad & Ma, Feng & Huynh, Toan L.D., 2022. "Climate policy uncertainty and world renewable energy index volatility forecasting," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    14. Ren, Xiaohang & Zhang, Xiao & Yan, Cheng & Gozgor, Giray, 2022. "Climate policy uncertainty and firm-level total factor productivity: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    15. Blyth, William & Bradley, Richard & Bunn, Derek & Clarke, Charlie & Wilson, Tom & Yang, Ming, 2007. "Investment risks under uncertain climate change policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 5766-5773, November.
    16. Ayed, Sabrine & Ben-Amar, Walid & Arouri, Mohamed, 2024. "Climate policy uncertainty and corporate dividends," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    17. Li, Jinning & Kong, Tao & Gu, Liangliang, 2024. "The impact of climate policy uncertainty on green innovation in Chinese agricultural enterprises," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PA).
    18. Azimli, Asil, 2023. "The impact of climate policy uncertainty on firm value: Does corporate social responsibility engagement matter?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    19. Arbex, Marcelo & Batu, Michael, 2020. "What if people value nature? Climate change and welfare costs," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    20. Triguero, Ángela & Córcoles, David, 2013. "Understanding innovation: An analysis of persistence for Spanish manufacturing firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 340-352.
    21. Muhammad Aftab & Inzamam Ul Haq & Mohamed Albaity, 2023. "The COVID-19 pandemic, economic policy uncertainty and the hedging role of cryptocurrencies: a global perspective," China Finance Review International, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(3), pages 471-508, May.
    22. Marco Letta & Richard S. J. Tol, 2019. "Weather, Climate and Total Factor Productivity," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 73(1), pages 283-305, May.
    23. 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.
    24. Rodriguez Lopez, Juan Miguel & Sakhel, Alice & Busch, Timo, 2017. "Corporate investments and environmental regulation: The role of regulatory uncertainty, regulation-induced uncertainty, and investment history," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 91-101.
    25. Drobetz, Wolfgang & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Janzen, Malte, 2018. "Policy uncertainty, investment, and the cost of capital," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 28-45.
    26. Bouri, Elie & Iqbal, Najaf & Klein, Tony, 2022. "Climate policy uncertainty and the price dynamics of green and brown energy stocks," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    27. Dalby, Peder A.O. & Gillerhaugen, Gisle R. & Hagspiel, Verena & Leth-Olsen, Tord & Thijssen, Jacco J.J., 2018. "Green investment under policy uncertainty and Bayesian learning," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 1262-1281.
    28. Lee, Chi-Chuan & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Xiao, Shunyi, 2021. "Policy-related risk and corporate financing behavior: Evidence from China’s listed companies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 539-547.
    29. Karim, Sitara & Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Shafiullah, Muhammad & Lucey, Brian M. & Ashraf, Sania, 2023. "Asymmetric relationship between climate policy uncertainty and energy metals: Evidence from cross-quantilogram," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    30. Liu, Junrong & Deng, Guoying & Yan, Jingzhou & Ma, Shibo, 2023. "Unraveling the impact of climate policy uncertainty on corporate default risk: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PB).
    31. Tim Loughran & Bill Mcdonald, 2011. "When Is a Liability Not a Liability? Textual Analysis, Dictionaries, and 10‐Ks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(1), pages 35-65, February.
    32. Huseyin Gulen & Mihai Ion, 2016. "Editor's Choice Policy Uncertainty and Corporate Investment," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(3), pages 523-564.
    33. Xu, Zhaoxia, 2020. "Economic policy uncertainty, cost of capital, and corporate innovation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    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. Wang, Jianlong & Liu, Yong & Wang, Weilong & Wu, Haitao, 2024. "Does artificial intelligence improve enterprise carbon emission performance? Evidence from an intelligent transformation policy in China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Huang, Qiubin & Kou, Mingting, 2024. "Does climate policy uncertainty impair or improve corporate investment efficiency?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    3. Zhong, Qian & Zhang, Qun & Yang, Jingjing, 2025. "Can artificial intelligence empower energy enterprises to cope with climate policy uncertainty?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    4. Zhao, Lili & Ma, Yibing & Chen, Na & Wen, Fenghua, 2025. "How does climate policy uncertainty shape corporate investment behavior?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Wu, Guo & Hu, Guoheng, 2024. "Asymmetric spillovers and resilience in physical and financial assets amid climate policy uncertainties: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    6. Ren, Xiaohang & Zhang, Xiao & Yan, Cheng & Gozgor, Giray, 2022. "Climate policy uncertainty and firm-level total factor productivity: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    7. Liu, Junrong & Deng, Guoying & Yan, Jingzhou & Ma, Shibo, 2025. "Does economic policy uncertainty matter to corporate default probability? findings from theoretic analyses and China’s listed firms," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(PA).
    8. Dong, Xiaotian & Wang, Kai-Hua & Tao, Ran & Sorana, Vătavu & Moldovan, Nicoleta-Claudia, 2024. "Is there a relationship between climate policy uncertainty and green finance? Evidence from bootstrap rolling window test," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 277-289.
    9. Ongsakul, Viput & Papangkorn, Suwongrat & Jiraporn, Pornsit, 2023. "Estimating the effect of climate change exposure on firm value using climate policy uncertainty: A text-based approach," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    10. Xiaohang Ren & Weichen Li & Kun Duan & Xinru Zhang, 2024. "Does climate policy uncertainty really affect corporate financialization?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 4705-4723, February.
    11. Liu, Liping & Lü, Zheng & Yoon, Seong-Min, 2025. "Impact of policy uncertainty on stock market volatility in the China’s low-carbon economy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    12. Golub, Alexander A. & Lubowski, Ruben N. & Piris-Cabezas, Pedro, 2020. "Business responses to climate policy uncertainty: Theoretical analysis of a twin deferral strategy and the risk-adjusted price of carbon," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    13. Wang, Yihan & Goutte, Stephane & Bouri, Elie & Sokhanvar, Amin, 2024. "Climate risks and the realized higher-order moments of financial markets: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 1064-1087.
    14. Zixuan Zhang & Zhenyu Ge, 2024. "Fishing in muddy water? Climate policy uncertainty and corporate greenwashing in environmental, social, and governance," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 45(6), pages 4191-4207, September.
    15. Siddique, Md. Abubakar & Nobanee, Haitham & Hasan, Md. Bokhtiar & Uddin, Gazi Salah & Hossain, Md. Naiem & Park, Donghyun, 2023. "How do energy markets react to climate policy uncertainty? Fossil vs. renewable and low-carbon energy assets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    16. Cheng, Shulei & Chen, Yongtao & Wang, Kexin & Jia, Lijun, 2024. "Climate policy uncertainty influences carbon emissions in the semiconductor industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    17. Chang, Chiu-Lan & Zhang, Jiahui & Lin, Yu-En, 2024. "Climate policy uncertainty, corporate social responsibility and corporate investments of the energy firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    18. Tan, Xueping & Zhong, Yiran & Vivian, Andrew & Geng, Yong & Wang, Ziyi & Zhao, Difei, 2024. "Towards an era of multi-source uncertainty: A systematic and bibliometric analysis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PB).
    19. Vo, Hong & Nguyen, Tien & Phan, Hieu V., 2024. "Building a sustainable future: The role of corporate social responsibility in climate policy uncertainty management," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    20. Leila Hedhili Zaier & Khaled Mokni & Ahdi Noomen Ajmi, 2024. "Causality relationships between climate policy uncertainty, renewable energy stocks, and oil prices: a mixed-frequency causality analysis," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate policy uncertainty; Continuous innovation; Green transformation;
    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
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

    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:71:y:2025:i:c:s154461232401465x. 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.