When attention to climate change matters: The impact of climate risk disclosure on firm market value

Abstract

Concerns about climate change and its potential economic impact have prompted policymakers and institutions to introduce standards and principles to encourage the disclosure of company risks related to climate change. Past research demonstrated that such disclosure positively impacts firm stock prices. This study analyzes the magnitude and significance of climate risk disclosures within 10-K and 10-Q reports of U.S. companies through the application of novel methods in text mining and social network analysis. Furthermore, it measures the level of attention directed towards climate change at the firm level by analyzing transcripts from earnings conference calls. The study contributes to the literature by investigating the effect of climate risk disclosure on firm market value and considering where such disclosure occurs. The findings demonstrate a positive relationship between climate risk disclosures and firm value. However, this relationship can turn negative when the attention to climate change intensifies. The results of this study are of particular relevance for practitioners and policymakers who are provided with a novel instrument to quantify the magnitude of climate change risk disclosure in textual data. Regulators can identify firms particularly exposed to climate change and create incentives for disclosure, especially when firms may be disincentivized to share information about climate change risks.