IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v243y2026ics0167268126000429.html

Firm complexity and carbon emissions: Evidence from textual analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Chih-Wei
  • Lin, Weizheng
  • Shi, Nina

Abstract

Utilizing a novel measure of firm complexity derived from textual analysis by Loughran and McDonald (2024), we examine the relationship between firm complexity and carbon emissions in the United States from 2005 to 2021, considering the roles of AI investment levels and firm leverage as mediating factors. We find that more complex firms are inclined to invest in AI technologies associated with increased carbon emissions. Additionally, these firms tend to have higher leverage, further amplifying their carbon emissions. Our results indicate that this relationship is more pronounced when oil price uncertainty is low and in manufacturing and high-tech industries. The relationship is also stronger among smaller firms, as they face more significant challenges in adopting ESG policies. Finally, firms with higher returns on assets, long-term debt, and gross profit demonstrate a more substantial positive relation between complexity and carbon emissions.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Chih-Wei & Lin, Weizheng & Shi, Nina, 2026. "Firm complexity and carbon emissions: Evidence from textual analysis," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:243:y:2026:i:c:s0167268126000429
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2026.107454
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268126000429
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jebo.2026.107454?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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:jeborg:v:243:y:2026:i:c:s0167268126000429. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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/jebo .

    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.