Climate Change Risk, Risk Management and Corporate Social Responsibility: Cross CountryEvidence

Abstract

We examine how climate change risk impacts corporate social responsibility using an international firm-level sample. Exploiting a new firm-level measure of climate change risk, we find that firms significantly adjust their CSR standards upwards in response to climate change risk shocks. Using the difference in difference (DiD) approach and natural disaster shocks as plausibly exogenous shocks to climate change risk, we document an increase in CSR performance for affected firms relative to their unaffected peers after severe natural disasters. Additionally, we observe that the sensitivity of CSR performance to climate change risk jumps after the release of the Stern Review and the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, we find that this impact is more pronounced for firms in climate-sensitive sectors, firms with more growth options, firms with higher governance standards, and firms in highly competitive industries. Overall, our findings reveal that climate change uncertainty can trigger firms to invest more in CSR activities to hedge against future climate risks.

Keywords: Climate risk; Corporate social responsibility; Real option, Growth Option, Paris Agreement