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Climate change concerns and the performance of green versus brown stocks

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  • David Ardia
  • Keven Bluteau
  • Kris Boudt
  • Koen Inghelbrecht

Abstract

We empirically test the prediction of Pastor, Stambaugh, and Taylor (2020) that green firms outperform brown firms when concerns about climate change increase unexpectedly, using data for S&P 500 companies from January 2010 to June 2018. To capture unexpected increases in climate change concerns, we construct a Media Climate Change Concerns index using news about climate change published by major U.S. newspapers. We find that when concerns about climate change increase unexpectedly, green firms’ stock prices increase, while brown firms’ decrease. Further, using topic modeling, we conclude that climate change concerns affect returns both through investors updating their expectations about firms’ future cash flows and through changes in investors’ preferences for sustainability

Suggested Citation

  • David Ardia & Keven Bluteau & Kris Boudt & Koen Inghelbrecht, 2021. "Climate change concerns and the performance of green versus brown stocks," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 21/1011, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    • Handle: RePEc:rug:rugwps:21/1011
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Apel, Matthias & Betzer, André & Scherer, Bernd, 2023. "Real-time transition risk," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    3. Tiziano De Angelis & Peter Tankov & Olivier David Zerbib, 2022. "Climate Impact Investing," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 676 JEL Classification: G, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    4. Ardia, David & Bluteau, Keven & Tran, Thien Duy, 2022. "How easy is it for investment managers to deploy their talent in green and brown stocks?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    5. 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).
    6. Milot Hasaj & Bernd Scherer, 2021. "Covid-19 and smart beta," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 35(4), pages 515-532, December.
    7. Iulia Lupu & Adina Criste, 2022. "Tendencies In Green Finance," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 3, pages 57-63, June.
    8. Du, Qianqian & Su, Wanxuan & Liang, Dawei & Wang, Luying, 2023. "How does green preference impact sustainability-based investment strategy? Evidence from the Chinese stock market," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    9. 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).
    10. Pástor, Ľuboš & Stambaugh, Robert F. & Taylor, Lucian A., 2022. "Dissecting green returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 403-424.
    11. Meinerding, Christoph & Schüler, Yves S. & Zhang, Philipp, 2023. "Shocks to transition risk," Discussion Papers 04/2023, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    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. Joost Bats & Giovanna Bua & Daniel Kapp, 2023. "Physical and transition risk premiums in euro area corporate bond markets," Working Papers 761, DNB.
    14. Bats, Joost Victor & Bua, Giovanna & Kapp, Daniel, 2024. "Physical and transition risk premiums in euro area corporate bond markets," Working Paper Series 2899, European Central Bank.
    15. Ho, Kelvin & Wong, Andrew, 2023. "Effect of climate-related risk on the costs of bank loans: Evidence from syndicated loan markets in emerging economies," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    16. Venturini, Alessio, 2022. "Climate change, risk factors and stock returns: A review of the literature," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. 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).
    18. Olivier David Zerbib, 2022. "A Sustainable Capital Asset Pricing Model (S-CAPM): Evidence from Environmental Integration and Sin Stock Exclusion [Asset pricing with liquidity risk]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 26(6), pages 1345-1388.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Asset Pricing; Climate Change; Sustainable Investing; ESG; Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Sentometrics; Textual Analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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