IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/cesptp/halshs-00637961.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

How Does the Stock Market Respond to Chemical Disasters?

Author

Listed:
  • Marie-Aude Laguna

    (DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Gunther Capelle-Blancard

    (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the stock market reaction to industrial disasters. We consider an original sample of 64 explosions in chemical plants and refineries worldwide over the period 1990-2005. A quarter of the accidents resulted in a toxic release, and half of them caused at least one death or serious injury. On average, petrochemical firms in our sample experience a drop in their market value of 1.3% over the two days immediately following the disaster. Using multivariate analysis, we show that this loss is significantly related to the seriousness of the accident as measured by the number of casualties and by chemical pollution: each casualty corresponds to a loss of $164 million and a toxic release to a loss of $1 billion.

Suggested Citation

  • Marie-Aude Laguna & Gunther Capelle-Blancard, 2010. "How Does the Stock Market Respond to Chemical Disasters?," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00637961, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00637961
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2009.11.002
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00637961
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00637961/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jeem.2009.11.002?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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dasgupta, Susmita & Hong, Jong Ho & Laplante, Benoit & Mamingi, Nlandu, 2006. "Disclosure of environmental violations and stock market in the Republic of Korea," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 759-777, July.
    2. Hill, Joanne & Schneeweis, Thomas, 1983. "The Effect of Three Mile Island on Electric Utility Stock Prices: A Note," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 38(4), pages 1285-1292, September.
    3. Richard K. Harper & Stephen C. Adams, 1996. "Cercla And Deep Pockets: Market Response To The Superfund Program," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 14(1), pages 107-115, January.
    4. Badrinath, S G & Bolster, Paul J, 1996. "The Role of Market Forces in EPA Enforcement Activity," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 165-181, September.
    5. Dasgupta, Susmita & Laplante, Benoit & Mamingi, Nlandu, 2001. "Pollution and Capital Markets in Developing Countries," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 310-335, November.
    6. Herbst, Anthony F. & Marshall, John F. & Wingender, John, 1996. "An analysis of the stock market's response to the Exxon Valdez disaster," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 101-114.
    7. Konar, Shameek & Cohen, Mark A., 1997. "Information As Regulation: The Effect of Community Right to Know Laws on Toxic Emissions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 109-124, January.
    8. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert Vishny, 2002. "Investor Protection and Corporate Valuation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(3), pages 1147-1170, June.
    9. Fama, Eugene F., 1998. "Market efficiency, long-term returns, and behavioral finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 283-306, September.
    10. X. Frank Zhang, 2006. "Information Uncertainty and Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(1), pages 105-137, February.
    11. Khanna, Madhu & Quimio, Wilma Rose H. & Bojilova, Dora, 1998. "Toxics Release Information: A Policy Tool for Environmental Protection," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 243-266, November.
    12. Karpoff, Jonathan M & Lott, John R, Jr & Wehrly, Eric W, 2005. "The Reputational Penalties for Environmental Violations: Empirical Evidence," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 48(2), pages 653-675, October.
    13. Hamilton James T., 1995. "Pollution as News: Media and Stock Market Reactions to the Toxics Release Inventory Data," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 98-113, January.
    14. Tom Tietenberg, 1998. "Disclosure Strategies for Pollution Control," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 11(3), pages 587-602, April.
    15. A. Craig MacKinlay, 1997. "Event Studies in Economics and Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 13-39, March.
    16. Robert D. Klassen & Curtis P. McLaughlin, 1996. "The Impact of Environmental Management on Firm Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(8), pages 1199-1214, August.
    17. Blacconiere, Walter G. & Patten, Dennis M., 1994. "Environmental disclosures, regulatory costs, and changes in firm value," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 357-377, November.
    18. Gupta, Shreekant & Goldar, Bishwanath, 2005. "Do stock markets penalize environment-unfriendly behaviour? Evidence from India," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 81-95, January.
    19. Fields, M. Andrew & Janjigian, Vahan, 1989. "The effect of Chernobyl on electric-utility stock prices," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 81-87, January.
    20. Barrett, W Brian & Heuson, Andrea J & Kolb, Robert W, 1986. "The Effect of Three Mile Island on Utility Bond Risk Premia: A Note," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 41(1), pages 255-261, March.
    21. Spudeck, Raymond E. & Moyer, R. Charles, 1989. "A note on the stock market's reaction to the accident at three mile island," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 235-240, August.
    22. Bowen, Robert M. & Castanias, Richard P. & Daley, Lane A., 1983. "Intra-Industry Effects of the Accident at Three Mile Island," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 87-111, March.
    23. Mark Cohen & V. Santhakumar, 2007. "Information Disclosure as Environmental Regulation: A Theoretical Analysis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 37(3), pages 599-620, July.
    24. Salinger, Michael, 1992. "Value Event Studies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 74(4), pages 671-677, November.
    25. Borenstein, Severin & Zimmerman, Martin B, 1988. "Market Incentives for Safe Commercial Airline Operation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(5), pages 913-935, December.
    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. repec:dau:papers:123456789/3187 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Carpentier, Cécile & Suret, Jean-Marc, 2015. "Stock market and deterrence effect: A mid-run analysis of major environmental and non-environmental accidents," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 1-18.
    3. X. Xu & S. Zeng & C. Tam, 2012. "Stock Market’s Reaction to Disclosure of Environmental Violations: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 107(2), pages 227-237, May.
    4. Fan Xia & Yunxin Hua & Bing Zhang, 2024. "Does non‐compliance pay? Environmental violations and share prices in China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 1886-1904, May.
    5. Fdez-Galiano, Inés Merino & Feria-Dominguez, José Manuel, 2024. "Do ESG disclosures mitigate investors’ reaction on mining disasters? Evidence from Brazil," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 256-267.
    6. Cañón-de-Francia, Joaquín & Garcés-Ayerbe, Concepción & Ramírez-Alesón, Marisa, 2008. "Analysis of the effectiveness of the first European Pollutant Emission Register (EPER)," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 83-92, August.
    7. Patrick Richard, 2010. "Financial market instability and CO2 emissions," Cahiers de recherche 10-20, Departement d'économique de l'École de gestion à l'Université de Sherbrooke.
    8. Oberndorfer, Ulrich & Ziegler, Andreas, 2006. "Environmentally oriented energy policy and stock returns: an empirical analysis," ZEW Discussion Papers 06-079, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    9. Lyon, Thomas & Lu, Yao & Shi, Xinzheng & Yin, Qie, 2013. "How do investors respond to Green Company Awards in China?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 1-8.
    10. Sandrine Boulerne & Jean-Philippe Lafontaine & Bruno Pecchioli, 2016. "Fukushima, quel impact sur les entreprises françaises cotées de la filière de production d'électricité d'origine nucléaire ?," Post-Print hal-01902423, HAL.
    11. Takeda, Fumiko & Tomozawa, Takanori, 2008. "A change in market responses to the environmental management ranking in Japan," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 465-472, October.
    12. Ziegler, Andreas & Schröder, Michael, 2006. "What Determines the Inclusion in a Sustainability Stock Index? A Panel Data Analysis for European Companies," ZEW Discussion Papers 06-041, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    13. Blackman, Allen, 2009. "Alternative Pollution Control Policies in Developing Countries: Informal, Informational, and Voluntary," RFF Working Paper Series dp-09-14-efd, Resources for the Future.
    14. Yalin Zhou & Jing Cao & Yujia Feng, 2021. "Stock Market Reactions to Pollution Information Disclosure: New Evidence from the Pollution Blacklist Program in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-13, February.
    15. Urs von Arx & Andreas Ziegler, 2008. "The Effect of CSR on Stock Performance: New Evidence for the USA and Europe," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 08/85, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    16. André, Francisco J. & Sokri, Abderrahmane & Zaccour, Georges, 2011. "Public Disclosure Programs vs. traditional approaches for environmental regulation: Green goodwill and the policies of the firm," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 212(1), pages 199-212, July.
    17. Stefan Ambec & Paul Lanoie, 2007. "When and Why Does It Pay To Be Green?," CIRANO Working Papers 2007s-20, CIRANO.
    18. Andreas Ziegler, 2012. "Is it Beneficial to be Included in a Sustainability Stock Index? A Panel Data Study for European Firms," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 52(3), pages 301-325, July.
    19. Nicholas Powers & Allen Blackman & Thomas Lyon & Urvashi Narain, 2011. "Does Disclosure Reduce Pollution? Evidence from India’s Green Rating Project," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 50(1), pages 131-155, September.
    20. Alberto Barroso Del Toro & Laura Vivas Crisol & Xavier Tort-Martorell, 2022. "The Sustainability Narrative: A Multi Study Using Event Studies to Analyse the American Energy Companies Shareholder’s Reaction to Sustainability News," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-17, November.
    21. Oberndorfer, Ulrich & Schmidt, Peter & Wagner, Marcus & Ziegler, Andreas, 2013. "Does the stock market value the inclusion in a sustainability stock index? An event study analysis for German firms," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 497-509.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Technological risk; Event study; Environmental liability; Disclosure; Insurance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • L65 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Chemicals; Rubber; Drugs; Biotechnology; Plastics
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q27 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Issues in International Trade

    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:hal:cesptp:halshs-00637961. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.