Climate policy uncertainty and risks taken by the bank: Evidence from China

Abstract

This paper studies the relationship between three types of risk borne by banks and climate policy uncertainty (CPU). We use panel data for 210 commercial banks in China from 2009 to 2020. This paper has the following main conclusions: Firstly, climate policy uncertainty significantly reduce the passive and active risks borne by banks and increase the insolvency risks borne by banks; Secondly, the impact of CPU on the passive risks borne by listed banks is greater than that of unlisted banks, and the impact of CPU on the active and insolvency risks borne by listed banks is less than that of unlisted banks; Thirdly, the impact of CPU on the three types of risks borne by banks is most pronounced among rural banks and state-owned banks and least pronounced among joint-stock banks. After a series of robustness tests, such as the system GMM approach, different sample periods and controlling for endogeneity, the results of this paper remain robust. We also used the difference in difference (DID) method to study the policy dynamic effects of the 2016 Paris Agreement, and we passed a parallel trend test. Our results provide insights for policy makers and investors. Policy makers should formulate visionary policies in order to minimize the adverse effects of CPU; investors should keep an eye on the implementation of climate policies and pay attention to the impact of policies on the economy, so that they can adjust their investment strategies rationally.