IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/enejou/v43y2022i2p181-214.html

Carbon Intensity and the Cost of Equity Capital

Author

Listed:
  • Arjan Trinks
  • Gbenga Ibikunle
  • Machiel Mulder
  • Bert Scholtens

Abstract

The transition from high- to lower-carbon production systems increasingly creates regulatory and market risks for high-emitting firms. We test to what extent equity market investors demand a premium to compensate for such risks and thus might raise firms’ cost of equity capital (CoE). Using data for 1,897 firms spanning 50 countries over the years 2008-2016, we find a distinct and robust positive impact of carbon intensity (carbon emissions per unit of output) on CoE: On average, a standard deviation higher (sector-adjusted) carbon intensity is associated with a CoE premium of 6 (9) basis points or 1.7% (2.6%). This effect is primarily explained by systematic risk factors: high-emitting assets are significantly more sensitive to economy-wide fluctuations than low-emitting ones. The CoE impact of carbon intensity is more pronounced in high-emitting sectors, EU countries, and firms subject to carbon pricing regulation. Our results suggest that carbon emission reduction might serve as a valuable risk mitigation strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Arjan Trinks & Gbenga Ibikunle & Machiel Mulder & Bert Scholtens, 2022. "Carbon Intensity and the Cost of Equity Capital," The Energy Journal, , vol. 43(2), pages 181-214, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:enejou:v:43:y:2022:i:2:p:181-214
    DOI: 10.5547/01956574.43.2.atri
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.5547/01956574.43.2.atri
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5547/01956574.43.2.atri?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul Lanoie, 2008. "When And Why Does It Pay To Be Green?," CIRANO Papers 2008n-02a, CIRANO.
    2. Driesprong, Gerben & Jacobsen, Ben & Maat, Benjamin, 2008. "Striking oil: Another puzzle?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 307-327, August.
    3. Edwin J. Elton, 1999. "Presidential Address: Expected Return, Realized Return, and Asset Pricing Tests," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(4), pages 1199-1220, August.
    4. Todd A. Gormley & David A. Matsa, 2014. "Common Errors: How to (and Not to) Control for Unobserved Heterogeneity," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(2), pages 617-661.
    5. Ziegler, Andreas & Busch, Timo & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2011. "Disclosed corporate responses to climate change and stock performance: An international empirical analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1283-1294.
    6. Mitchell A. Petersen, 2009. "Estimating Standard Errors in Finance Panel Data Sets: Comparing Approaches," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 435-480, January.
    7. Di Giuli, Alberta & Kostovetsky, Leonard, 2014. "Are red or blue companies more likely to go green? Politics and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(1), pages 158-180.
    8. Dyck, Alexander & Lins, Karl V. & Roth, Lukas & Wagner, Hannes F., 2019. "Do institutional investors drive corporate social responsibility? International evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(3), pages 693-714.
    9. Karl V. Lins & Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2017. "Social Capital, Trust, and Firm Performance: The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility during the Financial Crisis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1785-1824, August.
    10. Gbenga Ibikunle & Tom Steffen, 2017. "European Green Mutual Fund Performance: A Comparative Analysis with their Conventional and Black Peers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 337-355, October.
    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. Qiang Yao & Na An & Hai Ci, 2024. "The Dynamics and Trends of International Research on Urban Carbon Risk," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-39, December.
    2. Ben-Nasr, Hamdi & Basha, Shabeen Afsar & Shams, Syed, 2025. "The influence of carbon risk on debt structure," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    3. Wu, Zhenshu & Shih, Yi-Cheng & Wang, Yao & Zhong, Rui, 2025. "The effects of decarbonization on corporate cash holdings," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    4. Dandan Ma & Pengxiang Zhai & Dayong Zhang & Qiang Ji, 2024. "Excess stock returns and corporate environmental performance in China," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 1-30, December.
    5. Bein, Murad A., 2026. "Dynamic interrelations and the potential of global industrial sectors to function as a refuge for the global transition towards a low-carbon economy," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    6. Ren, Yi-Shuai & Huynh, Toan Luu Duc & Liu, Pei-Zhi & Narayan, Seema, 2024. "Is the carbon emission trading scheme conducive to promoting energy transition? Some empirical evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    7. Hambel, Christoph & van der Sanden, Floor, 2025. "Reevaluating the carbon premium: Evidence of green outperformance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    8. Wang, Yifei & Zhang, Yingying, 2025. "Economic policy uncertainty, carbon risk and China's stock market," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    9. Nasrallah, Nohade & El Khoury, Rim & Atayah, Osama F. & Marashdeh, Hazem & Najaf, Khakan, 2025. "The impact of carbon awareness, country-governance, and innovation on the cost of equity: Evidence from oil and gas firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PB).
    10. Yan, Jingjing & Guo, Yaoqi & Wen, Fenghua, 2025. "Carbon risk and the cost of equity capital: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(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. Trinks, Arjan & Mulder, Machiel & Scholtens, Bert, 2020. "An Efficiency Perspective on Carbon Emissions and Financial Performance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    2. Wang, Shuangshi & Yan, Cheng & Zhao, Yuqian, 2024. "Technological peer pressure and corporate sustainability," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    3. Zhang, Zhuang & Chizema, Amon & Kuo, Jing-Ming & Zhang, Qingjing, 2022. "Managerial risk-reducing incentives and social and exchange capital," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(6).
    4. Kim, Taehyun & Kim, Yongjun, 2025. "Does corporate environmental responsibility create value?: Evidence from supreme Court rulings," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    5. Wang, Juan & Li, Jing & Zhang, Qingjun, 2021. "Does carbon efficiency improve financial performance? Evidence from Chinese firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    6. Choi, Changhwan & Chung, Chune Young, 2024. "The effect of shale gas booms on environmental CSR activity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PB).
    7. Homroy, Swarnodeep, 2023. "GHG emissions and firm performance: The role of CEO gender socialization," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    8. Amal Aouadi & Sylvain Marsat, 2018. "Do ESG Controversies Matter for Firm Value? Evidence from International Data," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(4), pages 1027-1047, September.
    9. Zhang, Chenyu & Qian, Aimin & Lou, Xu & Zhang, Guiling, 2024. "The politics of corporate social responsibility disclosure: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 1406-1428.
    10. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    11. Cai, Xiangshang & Gao, Yang & Wu, Zhiting & Yuan, Jiayi, 2024. "Chief executive officer marital status and corporate credit ratings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PA).
    12. Tamas Barko & Martijn Cremers & Luc Renneboog, 2022. "Shareholder Engagement on Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(2), pages 777-812, October.
    13. Guernsey, Scott & Sepe, Simone M. & Serfling, Matthew, 2022. "Blood in the water: The value of antitakeover provisions during market shocks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(3), pages 1070-1096.
    14. Liu, Xianda & Hou, Wenxuan & Main, Brian G.M., 2022. "Anti-market sentiment and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from anti-Jewish pogroms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    15. Gillan, Stuart L. & Koch, Andrew & Starks, Laura T., 2021. "Firms and social responsibility: A review of ESG and CSR research in corporate finance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    16. Mihir Tirodkar & Henk Berkman, 2023. "Are polluters shunned? A study on the institutional ownership and returns of polluter stocks," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 513-537, August.
    17. Marco Ceccarelli & Stefano Ramelli & Alexander F Wagner, 2024. "Low Carbon Mutual Funds," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 28(1), pages 45-74.
    18. Samuel B. Bonsall IV & Babak Mammadov & Blerina Bela Zykaj, 2025. "Institutional Investors with Disciplinary History and CSR Behavior of Investee Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 200(4), pages 813-840, September.
    19. Wang, Kai & Li, Tingting & San, Ziyao & Gao, Hao, 2023. "How does corporate ESG performance affect stock liquidity? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    20. Natalya Bikmetova & Christo A. Pirinsky, 2026. "Do ESG Rating Agencies Improve ESG Performance?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 204(2), pages 335-365, March.

    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:sae:enejou:v:43:y:2022:i:2:p:181-214. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.