Do Costs of Corporate Loans Rise With Sea Level?
57 Pages Posted: 8 Nov 2019 Last revised: 10 Dec 2022
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Do Costs of Corporate Loans Rise With Sea Level?
Do Costs of Corporate Loans Rise with Sea Level?
Date Written: April 15, 2019
Abstract
We examine whether climate-change risk affects firms’ cost of capital when firms can adapt to the risk. We find firms’ cost of long-term loans increases with sea level rise (SLR) risk, but this effect mainly holds among firms with high adjustment costs to the risk, i.e., firms for whom it is hard to relocate or otherwise diversify SLR risk. Moreover, the spread-risk sensitivity is higher if the bank has more experience with the risk and in times of heightened media attention. This suggests banks have limited attention to this unconventional risk.
Keywords: Bank loans, Climate change risk, Sea level rise, Syndicated loans
JEL Classification: G14; G21; Q54
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation