Does Sunlight Kill Germs? Stock Market Listing and Workplace Safety

Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis forthcoming

54 Pages Posted: 15 Jul 2021 Last revised: 4 Apr 2022

See all articles by Claire Y.C. Liang

Claire Y.C. Liang

Georgetown University

Yaxuan Qi

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) - Department of Economics & Finance

Rengong Zhang

City University of Hong Kong (CityU)

Haoran Zhu

Southern University of Science and Technology; The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Business and Economics

Date Written: February 20, 2021

Abstract

This study highlights the positive impact of a stock market listing on workplace safety. We find that workplace injuries in publicly listed firms are lower than those in comparable private firms, and this effect relates to heightened monitoring by the media and regulators. The media pays more attention to public firms’ safety issues than to those of private firms, and the reduced media scrutiny due to local newspaper closures leads to greater increases in injuries in public firms. Regulators also monitor public firms more strictly, evidenced by a higher likelihood of nonroutine inspections and larger penalties for detected violations.

Keywords: workplace safety, stock market listing, private firms, ESG; OSHA

JEL Classification: J28, K32, G10

Suggested Citation

Liang, Claire Y.C. and Qi, Yaxuan and Zhang, Rengong and Zhu, Haoran, Does Sunlight Kill Germs? Stock Market Listing and Workplace Safety (February 20, 2021). Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3877059 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3877059

Claire Y.C. Liang

Georgetown University ( email )

Washington, DC 20057
United States

Yaxuan Qi (Contact Author)

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) - Department of Economics & Finance ( email )

83 Tat Chee Avenue
Kowloon
Hong Kong

Rengong Zhang

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) ( email )

83 Tat Chee Avenue
Kowloon
Hong Kong

Haoran Zhu

Southern University of Science and Technology ( email )

No 1088, xueyuan Rd.
Xili, Nanshan District
Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055
China

The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Business and Economics ( email )

Pokfulam Road
Hong Kong
China

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