IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v62y2022ics0275531922000988.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are investors sensitive to climate-related transition and physical risks? Evidence from global stock markets

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Si Ying

Abstract

We construct indices of climate-related physical and transition risks using newspapers to explore whether global stock market investors are sensitive to the different types of climate risk and whether this sensitivity depends on firms’ environmental performance. Estimates show that stock prices respond negatively to perceived changes in climate risk, and that “green” (“brown”) firms are rewarded (penalised) by the market when climate risks increase. Subsample analyses further reveal that while the effect continues to hold for firms headquartered in advanced economies (AEs), the equity prices of emerging market (EME) firms yield modest, if not insignificant, reactions, pointing to a relatively low level of climate-risk sensitivity in EMEs. As EMEs face significant challenges arising from climate change, this raises the concern of disorderly financial market repricing when investors come to terms with the very real threats that climate change poses to firms in these economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Si Ying, 2022. "Are investors sensitive to climate-related transition and physical risks? Evidence from global stock markets," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:62:y:2022:i:c:s0275531922000988
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2022.101710
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531922000988
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2022.101710?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. Bolton, Patrick & Kacperczyk, Marcin, 2021. "Do investors care about carbon risk?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 517-549.
    2. Pástor, Ľuboš & Stambaugh, Robert F. & Taylor, Lucian A., 2021. "Sustainable investing in equilibrium," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 550-571.
    3. Robert F Engle & Stefano Giglio & Bryan Kelly & Heebum Lee & Johannes Stroebel, 2020. "Hedging Climate Change News," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 1184-1216.
    4. Gary King & Patrick Lam & Margaret E. Roberts, 2017. "Computer‐Assisted Keyword and Document Set Discovery from Unstructured Text," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 61(4), pages 971-988, October.
    5. Pástor, Ľuboš & Stambaugh, Robert F. & Taylor, Lucian A., 2022. "Dissecting green returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 403-424.
    6. Diaz-Rainey, Ivan & Gehricke, Sebastian A. & Roberts, Helen & Zhang, Renzhu, 2021. "Trump vs. Paris: The impact of climate policy on U.S. listed oil and gas firm returns and volatility," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    7. David Ardia & Keven Bluteau & Kris Boudt & Koen Inghelbrecht, 2020. "Climate change concerns and the performance of green versus brown stocks," Working Paper Research 395, National Bank of Belgium.
    8. Hjort, Ingrid, 2016. "Potential Climate Risks in Financial Markets: A Literature Overview," Memorandum 01/2016, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    9. Fama, Eugene F & MacBeth, James D, 1973. "Risk, Return, and Equilibrium: Empirical Tests," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 607-636, May-June.
    10. Shapiro, Adam Hale & Sudhof, Moritz & Wilson, Daniel J., 2022. "Measuring news sentiment," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 228(2), pages 221-243.
    11. 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.
    12. Lauren Cohen & Umit G. Gurun & Quoc H. Nguyen, 2020. "The ESG-Innovation Disconnect: Evidence from Green Patenting," NBER Working Papers 27990, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. I. El Ouadghiri & K. Guesmi & Jonathan Peillex & A. Ziegler, 2021. "Public Attention to Environmental Issues and Stock Market Returns," Post-Print hal-03678291, HAL.
    14. David Ardia & Keven Bluteau & Kris Boudt & Koen Inghelbrecht, 2020. "Climate change concerns and the performance of green versus brown stocks," Working Paper Research 395, National Bank of Belgium.
    15. El Ouadghiri, Imane & Guesmi, Khaled & Peillex, Jonathan & Ziegler, Andreas, 2021. "Public Attention to Environmental Issues and Stock Market Returns," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    16. Wang, Yanbing & Delgado, Michael S. & Khanna, Neha & Bogan, Vicki L., 2019. "Good news for environmental self-regulation? Finding the right link," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 217-235.
    17. Eugene F. Fama & Kenneth R. French, 2004. "The Capital Asset Pricing Model: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(3), pages 25-46, Summer.
    18. Andrea Liesen & Frank Figge & Andreas Hoepner & Dennis M. Patten, 2017. "Climate Change and Asset Prices: Are Corporate Carbon Disclosure and Performance Priced Appropriately?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1-2), pages 35-62, January.
    19. Hong, Harrison & Li, Frank Weikai & Xu, Jiangmin, 2019. "Climate risks and market efficiency," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 208(1), pages 265-281.
    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. Venturini, Alessio, 2022. "Climate change, risk factors and stock returns: A review of the literature," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Khalfaoui, Rabeh & Mefteh-Wali, Salma & Viviani, Jean-Laurent & Ben Jabeur, Sami & Abedin, Mohammad Zoynul & Lucey, Brian M., 2022. "How do climate risk and clean energy spillovers, and uncertainty affect U.S. stock markets?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    3. Pástor, Ľuboš & Stambaugh, Robert F. & Taylor, Lucian A., 2022. "Dissecting green returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 403-424.
    4. Bua, Giovanna & Kapp, Daniel & Ramella, Federico & Rognone, Lavinia, 2022. "Transition versus physical climate risk pricing in European financial markets: a text-based approach," Working Paper Series 2677, European Central Bank.
    5. Borghesi, S. & Castellini, M. & Comincioli, N. & Donadelli, M. & Gufler, I. & Vergalli, S., 2022. "European green policy announcements and sectoral stock returns," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    6. David Ardia & Keven Bluteau & Kris Boudt & Koen Inghelbrecht, 2020. "Climate change concerns and the performance of green versus brown stocks," Working Paper Research 395, National Bank of Belgium.
    7. Santi, Caterina, 2023. "Investor climate sentiment and financial markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    8. Nguyen, Minh Nhat & Liu, Ruipeng & Li, Youwei, 2025. "Performance of energy ETFs and climate risks," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    9. Faccini, Renato & Matin, Rastin & Skiadopoulos, George, 2023. "Dissecting climate risks: Are they reflected in stock prices?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    10. Zacharias Sautner & Laurence Van Lent & Grigory Vilkov & Ruishen Zhang, 2023. "Firm‐Level Climate Change Exposure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 78(3), pages 1449-1498, June.
    11. Ge, Xiaowen & Xue, Minggao & Cao, Ruiyi, 2024. "Do Chinese carbon-intensive stocks overreact to climate transition risk? Evidence from the COP26 news," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    12. Inessa BENCHORA & Aurélien LEROY & Louis RAFFESTIN, 2023. "Is Monetary Policy Transmission Green?," Bordeaux Economics Working Papers 2023-08, Bordeaux School of Economics (BSE).
    13. Vu, Thanh Nam & Lehkonen, Heikki & Junttila, Juha-Pekka & Lucey, Brian, 2025. "ESG investment performance and global attention to sustainability," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(PA).
    14. Ho, Thang, 2022. "Climate change news sensitivity and mutual fund performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    15. Alessi, Lucia & Ossola, Elisa & Panzica, Roberto, 2023. "When do investors go green? Evidence from a time-varying asset-pricing model," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    16. Reboredo, Juan C. & Ugolini, Andrea, 2022. "Climate transition risk, profitability and stock prices," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    17. Marie Bessec & Julien Fouquau, 2024. "A Green Wave in Media: A Change of Tack in Stock Markets," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 86(5), pages 1026-1057, October.
    18. Joost Bats & Giovanna Bua & Daniel Kapp, 2023. "Physical and transition risk premiums in euro area corporate bond markets," Working Papers 761, DNB.
    19. Misev, Marina A. & Balles, Patrick, 2024. "Natural Disasters, Investor Attention, and Non-Fundamental Green Asset Demand," Working papers 2024/07, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    20. Tristan Jourde & Arthur Stalla-Bourdillon, 2024. "Environmental preferences and sector valuations," Post-Print halshs-04948464, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate change; Transition risks; Physical risks; Stock returns; Textual analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

    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:riibaf:v:62:y:2022:i:c:s0275531922000988. 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/ribaf .

    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.