An Empirical Investigation of Environmental Performance and the Market Value of the Firm

30 Pages Posted: 28 Dec 2008

See all articles by Brian Jacobs

Brian Jacobs

Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business

Vinod R. Singhal

Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business

Ravi Subramanian

Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business

Date Written: November 2008

Abstract

This paper analyzes the shareholder value effects of environmental performance by measuring the stock market reaction associated with announcements of environmental performance. We examine the market reaction to two categories of environmental performance. The first category includes 430 announcements of Corporate Environmental Initiatives (CEIs) that provide information about self-reported corporate efforts to avoid, mitigate, or offset the environmental impacts of the firm's products, services, or processes. The second category includes 381 announcements of Environmental Awards and Certifications (EACs) that provide information about recognition granted by third parties specifically for environmental performance. Although the market does not react significantly to the aggregated CEI and EAC announcements, we find statistically significant market reactions for certain CEI and EAC subcategories. Specifically, announcements of philanthropic gifts for environmental causes are associated with significant positive market reaction, voluntary emissions reductions are associated with significant negative market reaction, and ISO 14001 certifications are associated with significant positive market reaction. The difference between the market reactions to the CEI and EAC categories is statistically insignificant. Overall, we find that the market is selective in reacting to announcements of environmental performance with certain types of announcements even valued negatively.

Keywords: market value, environmental performance, environmental initiatives, awards, certifications, stock market reaction

Suggested Citation

Jacobs, Brian and Singhal, Vinod R. and Subramanian, Ravi, An Empirical Investigation of Environmental Performance and the Market Value of the Firm (November 2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1320721 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1320721

Brian Jacobs

Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business ( email )

800 West Peachtree St. NW
Atlanta, GA 30332
United States

Vinod R. Singhal

Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business ( email )

800 West Peachtree St.
Atlanta, GA 30308
United States

Ravi Subramanian (Contact Author)

Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business ( email )

800 West Peachtree St.
Atlanta, GA 30308
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
709
Abstract Views
3,270
Rank
71,465
PlumX Metrics