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Pricing carbon risk: Investor preferences or risk mitigation?

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  • Kleimeier, Stefanie
  • Viehs, Michael

Abstract

Do banks charge an environmental premium when lending to publicly listed firms? Using a unique and comprehensive database on carbon emissions, we find that higher carbon emissions are associated with higher loan spreads. This effect exists for loans arranged by all lenders suggesting that spread premia are driven by environmental risks rather than investor preferences. Consistent with ex-post risk, companies without appropriate board-level responsibility pay higher spreads. While countries might introduce effective legislation to mitigate the effects of climate change, our results indicate that there is scope for a market-based solution to complement explicit environmental regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Kleimeier, Stefanie & Viehs, Michael, 2021. "Pricing carbon risk: Investor preferences or risk mitigation?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:205:y:2021:i:c:s0165176521002135
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2021.109936
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Xiaohui Chen & Wen Chen & Tao Hu & Bo Yang & Jianguang Zeng, 2023. "Regional carbon efficiency and corporate cash holdings: evidence from China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Frankovic, Ivan & Kolb, Benedikt, 2024. "The role of emission disclosure for the low-carbon transition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    4. Kirschenmann Karolin, 2022. "The EU Taxonomy’s (Potential) Effects on the Banking Sector and Bank Lending to Firms," The Economists' Voice, De Gruyter, vol. 19(2), pages 275-283, December.
    5. Xiaohui Chen & Wen Chen & Xiaoxiang Wang, 2024. "Regional carbon efficiency and corporate risk-taking," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1-30, June.
    6. Zhong, Tingyong & Ma, Fuqi & Sun, Fangcheng & Li, Jiangna, 2024. "Can green finance reduce corporate carbon risk?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    7. Khandelwal, Urvashi & Sharma, Prateek & Nagarajan, Viswanathan, 2022. "Valuation effects of emissions reduction target disclosures," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    8. Qingxia (Jenny) Wang, 2023. "Financial effects of carbon risk and carbon disclosure: A review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(4), pages 4175-4219, December.
    9. Wilson, Christian & Caldecott, Ben, 2023. "Investigating the role of passive funds in carbon-intensive capital markets: Evidence from U.S. bonds," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    10. Carnevale, Concetta & Drago, Danilo, 2024. "Do banks price ESG risks? A critical review of empirical research," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    11. Zanin, Luca, 2023. "A flexible estimation of sectoral portfolio exposure to climate transition risks in the European stock market," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    12. Ren, Yi-Shuai & Derouiche, Imen & Hassan, Majdi & Liu, Pei-Zhi, 2024. "Do creditors price climate transition risks? A natural experiment based on China's carbon emission trading scheme," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 138-155.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Carbon emissions; Cost of debt; Bank loans;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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