search query: @indexterm Environmental economics / total: 508
reference: 6 / 508
| Author: | Fisher-Vanden, K. Thorburn, K.S. |
| Title: | Voluntary corporate environmental initiatives and shareholder wealth |
| Journal: | Journal of Environmental Economics and Management
2011 : NOV, VOL 62:3 p. 430-445 |
| Index terms: | corporate responsibility environmental economics climate change capital expenditure shareholders |
| Freeterms: | greenhouse gas emissions |
| Language: | eng |
| Abstract: | Researchers argue whether environmental investments reduce company value or actually improve financial performance. We provide some compelling support on shareholder wealth effects of membership in voluntary environmental programs (VEPs). Companies, which announce membership in EPA's Climate Leaders, a program pursuing reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, achieve significantly negative abnormal stock returns. The price decline is larger in firms with weak corporate governance structures, and for high growth firms. However, firms joining Ceres, a program comprising more general environmental commitments, have insignificant announcement returns, as do portfolios of industry competitors. Overall, corporate commitments in reducing greenhouse gas emissions appear to be contradictory with firm value maximization. This has important implications for policies relying on voluntary initiatives to address climate change. Further, we find that firms facing shareholder resolutions related to climate or firms with poor corporate governance standards giving managers the power to make such voluntary environmentally responsible investment decisions are more likely to join Climate Leaders; resulting in lower firm value. |
SCIMA