The Capital Market Implications of Climate Risk Disclosure
Jiang Luo  1@  , Konstantinos Stathopoulos  2@  , Avanidhar Subrahmanyam  3@  , Xiaoxia Ye  4@  , Ran Zhao  5@  
1 : Nanyang Technological University
2 : The University of Manchester
3 : UCLA Anderson School of Management
4 : University of Exeter Business School
5 : San Diego State University

Corporate climate risk (CR) disclosures have become more widespread in recent years following enhanced public awareness about climate change and regulatory interventions. We hypothesize that increased CR disclosure allows a firm to appeal to a larger set of institutional investors, and thereby enhances dispersion of ownership. In turn, this leads to a greater supply of lendable shares, less binding short-selling constraints, and improved stock market liquidity as well as price efficiency. Using the SEC (2010) CR-disclosure guidance as a treatment event in a difference in differences (DiD) setting, we find evidence consistent with our hypotheses. Our study identifies CR disclosures as a novel source of ownership breadth, and, ultimately, financial market quality. We also show that socially responsible mutual funds are particularly important in channeling CR disclosures' positive effects on financial markets.


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