IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolet/v244y2024ics0165176524004993.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does climate policy uncertainty impair or improve corporate investment efficiency?

Author

Listed:
  • Huang, Qiubin
  • Kou, Mingting

Abstract

Climate policy uncertainty (CPU) has been a topical issue given its widespread impacts, but its effect on corporate investment efficiency is arguable. Based on a sample of Chinese listed firms, we find that higher CPU results in lower investment levels while higher investment sensitivity to investment opportunities. This suggests that CPU improves investment efficiency by pushing firms to reduce investment expenditures and align their investment decisions more in line with investment opportunities. We name this finding as the pushback effect of CPU and find that it is more pronounced for firms with overinvestment or tight financial conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Huang, Qiubin & Kou, Mingting, 2024. "Does climate policy uncertainty impair or improve corporate investment efficiency?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:244:y:2024:i:c:s0165176524004993
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2024.112015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176524004993
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econlet.2024.112015?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. Huang, Yun & Luk, Paul, 2020. "Measuring economic policy uncertainty in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. Biddle, Gary C. & Hilary, Gilles & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2009. "How does financial reporting quality relate to investment efficiency?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2-3), pages 112-131, December.
    3. Lin, Boqiang & Zhao, Hengsong, 2023. "Tracking policy uncertainty under climate change," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Ru Gao & Xin Yu, 2020. "How to measure capital investment efficiency: a literature synthesis," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(1), pages 299-334, March.
    5. Kirsten A. Cook & Andrea M. Romi & Daniela Sánchez & Juan Manuel Sánchez, 2019. "The influence of corporate social responsibility on investment efficiency and innovation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3-4), pages 494-537, March.
    6. Mo, Yan & Liu, Xiaotong, 2023. "Climate policy uncertainty and digital transformation of enterprise—Evidence from China," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    7. Huang, Wendi, 2023. "Climate policy uncertainty and green innovation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    8. Chen, Ruiyuan & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Wang, He, 2017. "Do state and foreign ownership affect investment efficiency? Evidence from privatizations," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 408-421.
    9. Drobetz, Wolfgang & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Janzen, Malte, 2018. "Policy uncertainty, investment, and the cost of capital," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 28-45.
    10. Zhao, Wanli & Zhai, Xiangyang & Ji, Qiang & Liu, Zhenhua, 2024. "Measuring crisis from climate risk spillovers in European electricity markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    11. Wang, Hongjian & Luo, Tianpei & Tian, Gary Gang & Yan, Huanmin, 2020. "How does bank ownership affect firm investment? Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    12. Fuss, Sabine & Szolgayova, Jana & Obersteiner, Michael & Gusti, Mykola, 2008. "Investment under market and climate policy uncertainty," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(8), pages 708-721, August.
    13. Xu, Weidong & Luo, Zijun & Li, Donghui, 2024. "Investor–firm interactions and corporate investment efficiency: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    14. Liu, Junrong & Deng, Guoying & Yan, Jingzhou & Ma, Shibo, 2023. "Unraveling the impact of climate policy uncertainty on corporate default risk: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PB).
    15. Amin, Md Ruhul & Akindayomi, Akinloye & Sarker, Md Showaib Rahman & Bhuyan, Rafiqul, 2023. "Climate policy uncertainty and corporate tax avoidance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PD).
    16. Ren, Xiaohang & Zhang, Xiao & Yan, Cheng & Gozgor, Giray, 2022. "Climate policy uncertainty and firm-level total factor productivity: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    17. Huseyin Gulen & Mihai Ion, 2016. "Editor's Choice Policy Uncertainty and Corporate Investment," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(3), pages 523-564.
    18. Ayed, Sabrine & Ben-Amar, Walid & Arouri, Mohamed, 2024. "Climate policy uncertainty and corporate dividends," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    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. Cheng, Shulei & Chen, Yongtao & Wang, Kexin & Jia, Lijun, 2024. "Climate policy uncertainty influences carbon emissions in the semiconductor industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    2. Xu, Chang & Jin, Long, 2024. "Effects of government digitalization on firm investment efficiency: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 819-834.
    3. Anagnostopoulou, Seraina C., 2024. "Accruals quality and efficient investing: Cross-country evidence," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    4. Li, Michelle & Han, Xing & Li, Youwei, 2024. "The impact of climate policy uncertainty on stock price synchronicity: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PB).
    5. Poursoleyman, Ehsan & Mansourfar, Gholamreza & Rezaee, Zabihollah & Homayoun, Saeid, 2024. "Corporate social responsibility and investment efficiency: The roles of national stakeholder orientation and legal origins," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 889-911.
    6. Wu, Guo & Hu, Guoheng, 2024. "Asymmetric spillovers and resilience in physical and financial assets amid climate policy uncertainties: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    7. Rayed Obaid Hammoud Alobaid & Ameen Qasem & Adel Ali Al-Qadasi, 2024. "Corporate Social Responsibility, Ownership Structure, and Firm Investment Efficiency: Evidence from the Saudi Stock Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-25, August.
    8. Theodora Bermpei & Antonios Nikolaos Kalyvas & Lorenzo Neri & Antonella Russo, 2022. "Does economic policy uncertainty matter for financial reporting quality? Evidence from the United States," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 795-845, February.
    9. Liu, Jinjing & Wang, Hong, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and the cost of capital," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    10. Ren, Xiaohang & An, Yaning & Jin, Chenglu & Yan, Cheng, 2024. "Weathering the policy storm: How climate strategy volatility shapes corporate total factor productivity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    11. Attig, Najah & El Ghoul, Sadok, 2021. "Flying under the radar: The real effects of anonymous trading," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    12. Rehana Anwar & Jaleel A. Malik, 2020. "When Does Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure Affect Investment Efficiency? A New Answer to an Old Question," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, June.
    13. Xiaopeng Wang & Xueyao Shen & Yongliang Yang, 2020. "Does Environmental Information Disclosure Make Firms’ Investments More Efficient? Evidence from Measure 2007 of Chinese A-Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-16, March.
    14. Monika Dahiya & Shveta Singh & Neeru Chaudhry, 2024. "Unveiling the role of corporate social responsibility on the efficiency of capital investments and their speed of adjustment: Insights from India," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 41(4), pages 1963-1988, December.
    15. Peterson Kitakogelu Ozili, 2020. "Financial reporting under economic policy uncertainty," Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 19(2), pages 325-338, December.
    16. Bilyay-Erdogan, Seda & Danisman, Gamze Ozturk & Demir, Ender, 2024. "ESG performance and investment efficiency: The impact of information asymmetry," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    17. Yu, Chang, 2023. "Board gender diversity and investment inefficiency," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    18. Xueman Xiang & Carl R. Chen & Yue Liu & Azhar Mughal & Qizhi Tao, 2024. "Are directors with foreign experience better monitors? Evidence from investment efficiency," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 799-840, February.
    19. Zhongbo Jing & Shiyu Lu & Yang Zhao & Jun Zhou, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty, corporate investment decisions and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(S1), pages 1477-1502, April.
    20. Liu, Xinheng & Pan, Sishi & Li, Shuxian & Yang, Xin & Huang, Chuangxia, 2024. "Unraveling the causal impact: Oil price uncertainty on firms’ productivity in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate policy uncertainty; Investment efficiency; Corporate investment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • 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:ecolet:v:244:y:2024:i:c:s0165176524004993. 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/ecolet .

    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.