Air pollution and bank risk taking: Evidence from China

Abstract

In the context of frequent environmental events that attract widespread attention, this paper investigates the impact of air pollution on bank risk-taking. Using the data of 105 city commercial banks in China from 2014 to 2021, our findings suggest that air pollution leads banks to reduce risk-taking, which is primarily driven by the frequency of extreme pollution days. Banks in cities with higher government environmental concern and those with smaller asset scale and lower risk resistance are relatively more sensitive to air pollution. The transparent environmental supervision weakens the effect of air pollution on bank risk-taking.