Climate policy uncertainty and firm-level total factor productivity: Evidence from China
基于2009-2020年中国2605家上市公司数据，发现气候政策不确定性显著降低企业全要素生产率，对非国有、劳动和资本密集型企业影响更大，主要通过抑制研发投资和减少自由现金流实现。
Using 2605 Chinese A-share listed companies in the mining, manufacturing, and energy production and supply sectors from 2009 to 2020, we examine the relationship between climate policy uncertainty (CPU) and firm-level total factor productivity (TFP). The main findings are as follows: First, CPU significantly reduces firm-level TFP, with a greater impact on low-productivity firms than on high-productivity firms; second, the negative effect of CPU on firm-level TFP is most pronounced for non-state-owned, labor-intensive, and capital-intensive companies; third, CPU hinders research and development investment and reduces the amount of free cash flow. These results indicate that CPU exerts negative impacts on firm-level TFP mainly via its effects on the capital status of the companies. Our findings remain valid after a series of robustness tests and controlling for endogeneity. The government should introduce forward-looking climate policies to reduce the negative impact of policy uncertainty.