How does climate change affect firms' investment efficiency? Evidence from China's listed renewable energy firms
研究利用2008-2019年中国205家上市非水电可再生能源企业面板数据，发现二氧化碳排放和极端天气事件能提升投资效率，而极端温度则有负面影响，并探讨了机制与异质性。
Abstract Improving the investment efficiency of renewable energy (RE) firms is one of the critical measures for energy low‐carbon transformation and mitigating climate change. To investigate the impact of climate change (greenhouse gas emissions, extreme temperatures, and extreme weather events) on the investment efficiency of RE firms, the present study applied a fixed effect regression model by using the panel data of China's 205 listed non‐hydro RE firms during 2008–2019. The influencing mechanism and the heterogeneity among RE firms are also explored. The results show that (1) CO 2 emissions and extreme weather events significantly improve the investment efficiency of RE firms, whereas extreme temperatures' effect is significantly negative. (2) CO 2 emissions can promote the investment efficiency of wind and solar firms with environmental responsibility through reducing agency problems and information asymmetry. (3) RE policies play an active role between climate change and investment efficiency of wind and solar energy firms, but the promotion effect is not significant for biomass energy firms. (4) The joint effect of climate change and RE policies on investment efficiency are more prominent for wind and solar energy firms in a low‐marketized environment and state‐owned firms. These results suggest that wind and solar firms should seize market investment opportunities when facing climate change. Besides, policymakers should strengthen market‐oriented construction and improve the completeness of RE policies in low‐marketization areas.