IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v131y2024ics014098832400032x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Carbon emission and firms’ value: Evidence from Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Perdichizzi, Salvatore
  • Buchetti, Bruno
  • Cicchiello, Antonella Francesca
  • Dal Maso, Lorenzo

Abstract

Amidst the growing global concern about climate change, societies have taken increased interest in corporations’ output of greenhouse gas emissions, primarily CO2. Our study examines the direct and indirect effect of carbon emissions on firm value. We document that, in the European context, corporate carbon emissions are negatively associated with a company’s market valuation. Moreover, we find that CO2 emissions reduce the relevance of earnings (i.e., for high-polluting firms, earnings are less relevant for market valuation). Additionally, we show that the results are driven by Scope 1 emissions, not by Scopes 2 and 3. Finally, we establish that the country-level formal and informal institutions shape these effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Perdichizzi, Salvatore & Buchetti, Bruno & Cicchiello, Antonella Francesca & Dal Maso, Lorenzo, 2024. "Carbon emission and firms’ value: Evidence from Europe," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:131:y:2024:i:c:s014098832400032x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107324
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014098832400032X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107324?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. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1992. "The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 427-465, June.
    2. Costantini, Valeria & Monni, Salvatore, 2008. "Environment, human development and economic growth," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 867-880, February.
    3. Fraj, Elena & Matute, Jorge & Melero, Iguácel, 2015. "Environmental strategies and organizational competitiveness in the hotel industry: The role of learning and innovation as determinants of environmental success," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 30-42.
    4. Choi, Bobae & Luo, Le, 2021. "Does the market value greenhouse gas emissions? Evidence from multi-country firm data," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).
    5. Ammar Ali Gull & Asif Saeed & Muhammad Tahir Suleman & Rizwan Mushtaq, 2022. "Revisiting the association between environmental performance and financial performance: Does the level of environmental orientation matter?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1647-1662, September.
    6. Cormier, Denis & Magnan, Michel, 1997. "Investors' assessment of implicit environmental liabilities: An empirical investigation," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 215-241.
    7. Rong He & Le Luo & Abul Shamsuddin & Qingliang Tang, 2022. "The Value Relevance of Corporate Investment in Carbon Abatement: The Influence of National Climate Policy," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 1233-1261, October.
    8. Beaver, Wh, 1968. "Information Content Of Annual Earnings Announcements," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6, pages 67-92.
    9. Lee, Michael T. & Raschke, Robyn L. & Krishen, Anjala S., 2022. "Signaling green! firm ESG signals in an interconnected environment that promote brand valuation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 1-11.
    10. Tamazian, Artur & Bhaskara Rao, B., 2010. "Do economic, financial and institutional developments matter for environmental degradation? Evidence from transitional economies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 137-145, January.
    11. Eli Berman & Linda T. M. Bui, 2001. "Environmental Regulation And Productivity: Evidence From Oil Refineries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(3), pages 498-510, August.
    12. Rosa Dangelico & Devashish Pujari, 2010. "Mainstreaming Green Product Innovation: Why and How Companies Integrate Environmental Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(3), pages 471-486, September.
    13. Yang, Zikun & Zhang, Mingming & Liu, Liyun & Zhou, Dequn, 2022. "Can renewable energy investment reduce carbon dioxide emissions? Evidence from scale and structure," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    14. Welsch, Heinz, 2004. "Corruption, growth, and the environment: a cross-country analysis," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(5), pages 663-693, October.
    15. Andrew, Jane & Cortese, Corinne, 2011. "Accounting for climate change and the self-regulation of carbon disclosures," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 130-138.
    16. Barth, Mary E. & Beaver, William H. & Landsman, Wayne R., 2001. "The relevance of the value relevance literature for financial accounting standard setting: another view," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 77-104, September.
    17. Qiu, Yan & Shaukat, Amama & Tharyan, Rajesh, 2016. "Environmental and social disclosures: Link with corporate financial performance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 102-116.
    18. Gregory Jackson & Androniki Apostolakou, 2010. "Corporate Social Responsibility in Western Europe: An Institutional Mirror or Substitute?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(3), pages 371-394, July.
    19. Cormier, Denis & Magnan, Michel, 2007. "The revisited contribution of environmental reporting to investors' valuation of a firm's earnings: An international perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3-4), pages 613-626, May.
    20. Claudia Williamson, 2009. "Informal institutions rule: institutional arrangements and economic performance," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 371-387, June.
    21. Natalia Semenova & Lars G. Hassel, 2016. "The moderating effects of environmental risk of the industry on the relationship between corporate environmental and financial performance," Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 17(1), pages 97-114, February.
    22. Barth, Me & Mcnichols, Mf, 1994. "Estimation And Market Valuation Of Environmental Liabilities Relating To Superfund Sites," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32, pages 177-209.
    23. Diogenis Baboukardos, 2017. "Market valuation of greenhouse gas emissions under a mandatory reporting regime: Evidence from the UK," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 221-233, September.
    24. Cho, Charles H. & Patten, Dennis M., 2007. "The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: A research note," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(7-8), pages 639-647.
    25. Haslam, Colin & Butlin, John & Andersson, Tord & Malamatenios, John & Lehman, Glen, 2014. "Accounting for carbon and reframing disclosure: A business model approach," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 200-211.
    26. Azmat Gani, 2007. "Governance and foreign direct investment links: evidence from panel data estimations," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(10), pages 753-756.
    27. Robert G. Eccles & George Serafeim & Michael P. Krzus, 2011. "Market Interest in Nonfinancial Information," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 23(4), pages 113-127, December.
    28. Kothari, S. P. & Zimmerman, Jerold L., 1995. "Price and return models," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 155-192, September.
    29. Jane Andrew & Corinne Cortese, 2011. "Accounting for climate change and the self-regulation of carbon disclosures," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(3), pages 130-138, September.
    30. Patrick Bolton & Marcin Kacperczyk, 2021. "Global Pricing of Carbon-Transition Risk," NBER Working Papers 28510, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    31. Luo, Le & Tang, Qingliang, 2014. "Does voluntary carbon disclosure reflect underlying carbon performance?," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 191-205.
    32. Iatridis, George Emmanuel, 2015. "Corporate philanthropy in the US stock market: Evidence on corporate governance, value relevance and earnings manipulation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 113-126.
    33. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    34. Fraser, Alastair & Kuok, Jonathan Chiew Sheen & Leslie, Gordon W., 2023. "Climate reform and transitional industry assistance: Windfall profits for polluters?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    35. Ball, R & Brown, P, 1968. "Empirical Evaluation Of Accounting Income Numbers," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 159-178.
    36. Francis, J & Schipper, K, 1999. "Have financial statements lost their relevance?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 319-352.
    37. Barth, Mary E. & Beaver, William H. & Landsman, Wayne R., 1998. "Relative valuation roles of equity book value and net income as a function of financial health," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 1-34, February.
    38. Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    39. Aswani, Jitendra & Raghunandan, Aneesh & Rajgopal, Shivaram, 2024. "Are carbon emissions associated with stock returns?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118364, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    40. Rhodes-Kropf, Matthew & Robinson, David T. & Viswanathan, S., 2005. "Valuation waves and merger activity: The empirical evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 561-603, September.
    41. Paul A. Griffin & David H. Lont & Estelle Y. Sun, 2017. "The Relevance to Investors of Greenhouse Gas Emission Disclosures," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(2), pages 1265-1297, June.
    42. Peter M. Clarkson & Michael B. Overell & Larelle Chapple, 2011. "Environmental Reporting and its Relation to Corporate Environmental Performance," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 47(1), pages 27-60, March.
    43. Wang, David Han-Min & Chen, Pei-Hua & Yu, Tiffany Hui-Kuang & Hsiao, Chih-Yi, 2015. "The effects of corporate social responsibility on brand equity and firm performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 2232-2236.
    44. 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.
    45. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    46. Peter M. Clarkson & Yue Li & Matthew Pinnuck & Gordon D. Richardson, 2015. "The Valuation Relevance of Greenhouse Gas Emissions under the European Union Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 551-580, September.
    47. Jitendra Aswani & Aneesh Raghunandan & Shiva Rajgopal, 2024. "Are Carbon Emissions Associated with Stock Returns?," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 28(1), pages 75-106.
    48. Lev, Baruch & Sougiannis, Theodore, 1996. "The capitalization, amortization, and value-relevance of R&D," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 107-138, February.
    49. Colin Haslam & John Butlin & Tord Andersson & John Malamatenios & Glen Lehman, 2014. "Accounting for carbon and reframing disclosure: A business model approach," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 200-211, September.
    50. Safiullah, Md & Alam, Md Samsul & Islam, Md Shahidul, 2022. "Do all institutional investors care about corporate carbon emissions?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    51. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    52. Christian Ott & Frank Schiemann, 2023. "The market value of decomposed carbon emissions," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1-2), pages 3-30, January.
    53. Camélia Radu & Samaneh Maram, 2021. "The value relevance of reported carbon emissions," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(2), pages 347-377, June.
    54. Duan, Yuwan & Jiang, Xuemei, 2021. "Pollution haven or pollution halo? A Re-evaluation on the role of multinational enterprises in global CO2 emissions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    55. Ans Kolk & David Levy & Jonatan Pinkse, 2008. "Corporate Responses in an Emerging Climate Regime: The Institutionalization and Commensuration of Carbon Disclosure," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 719-745.
    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. Jiang, Yan & Luo, Le & Xu, JianFeng & Shao, XiaoRui, 2021. "The value relevance of corporate voluntary carbon disclosure: Evidence from the United States and BRIC countries," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3).
    2. Choi, Bobae & Luo, Le, 2021. "Does the market value greenhouse gas emissions? Evidence from multi-country firm data," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).
    3. Camélia Radu & Samaneh Maram, 2021. "The value relevance of reported carbon emissions," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(2), pages 347-377, June.
    4. Omaima A.G. Hassan & Peter Romilly, 2018. "Relations between corporate economic performance, environmental disclosure and greenhouse gas emissions: New insights," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 893-909, November.
    5. Provaty, Sagira Sultana & Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Luo, Le, 2024. "Organization capital and GHG emissions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    6. Francesco Paolone & Fabrizio Granà & Laura Martiniello & Riccardo Tiscini, 2021. "Environmental risk indicators disclosure and value relevance: An empirical analysis of Italian listed companies after the implementation of the Legislative Decree 254/2016," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(5), pages 1471-1482, September.
    7. César Camisón & José Antonio Clemente & Sergio Camisón-Haba, 2022. "Asset tangibility, information asymmetries and intangibles as determinants of family firms leverage," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(7), pages 2047-2082, October.
    8. Fan, Hanlu & Tang, Qingliang & Pan, Lipeng, 2021. "An international study of carbon information asymmetry and independent carbon assurance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).
    9. Alali, Fatima A. & Foote, Paul Sheldon, 2012. "The Value Relevance of International Financial Reporting Standards: Empirical Evidence in an Emerging Market," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 85-108.
    10. Rong He & Le Luo & Abul Shamsuddin & Qingliang Tang, 2022. "Corporate carbon accounting: a literature review of carbon accounting research from the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 261-298, March.
    11. Mansley, Nick & Wang, Zilong & Weng, Xiaoyu & Zhang, Wenjing, 2023. "Good growth, bad growth: Market reaction to capital raising for REIT expansion," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    12. Yang Stephanie Liu & Xiaoyan Zhou & Jessica Yang & Andreas Hoepner, 2016. "Corporate Carbon Emission and Financial Performance: Does Carbon Disclosure Mediate the Relationship in the UK?," ICMA Centre Discussion Papers in Finance icma-dp2016-03, Henley Business School, University of Reading.
    13. Helfaya, Akrum & Aboud, Ahmed & Amin, Essam, 2023. "An examination of corporate environmental goals disclosure, sustainability performance and firm value – An Egyptian evidence," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    14. Moliterni, Fabio, 2018. "Do Global Financial Markets Capitalise Sustainability? Evidence of a Quick Reversal," SAS: Society and Sustainability 274853, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    15. Tantawy Moussa & Amir Allam & Said Elbanna & Ahmed Bani‐Mustafa, 2020. "Can board environmental orientation improve U.S. firms' carbon performance? The mediating role of carbon strategy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 72-86, January.
    16. Begona Giner & Carmelo Reverte, 2001. "Valuation implications of capital structure: a contextual approach," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 291-314.
    17. Sudipta Bose & Amitav Saha & Indra Abeysekera, 2020. "The Value Relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility Expenditure: Evidence from Regulatory Decisions," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 56(4), pages 455-494, December.
    18. Kothari, S. P., 2001. "Capital markets research in accounting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 105-231, September.
    19. Fabio Moliterni, 2018. "Do Global Financial Markets Capitalise Sustainability? Evidence of a Quick Reversal," Working Papers 2018.25, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    20. Jafarinejad, Mohammad & Jory, Surendranath R. & Ngo, Thanh N., 2015. "The effects of institutional ownership on the value and risk of diversified firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 207-219.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Carbon emission; Carbon intensity; Value relevance; Market value; Formal and Informal institutions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies

    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:eneeco:v:131:y:2024:i:c:s014098832400032x. 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/eneco .

    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.