Media Attention to Climate Change and Investor Flows in US Equity Mutual Funds
研究了2000年至2023年间美国1352只主动管理股票共同基金，发现媒体对气候变化的关注显著影响投资者资金流动，减少对高碳风险基金的流入，增加对低碳风险基金的流入。
ABSTRACT This paper investigates how climate‐related news influences mutual fund investor behaviour in the United States. Although prior research has documented the financial relevance of climate risks, little is known about how media attention to climate change shapes capital allocation across mutual funds. Using a sample of 1352 actively managed US equity mutual funds from January 2000 to June 2023, we analyse the persistence of portfolio carbon risk and its role in investor decision‐making. Our findings reveal that mutual funds' carbon risk profiles remain persistent over time, enabling investors to anticipate future exposures. Moreover, heightened media coverage of climate change significantly affects investor flows: Climate news reduces inflows into high‐carbon risk funds while supporting flows towards low‐carbon risk funds, particularly in the latter years of the sample. These effects hold after controlling for fund characteristics and performance and are robust to alternative measures of climate coverage and investor flows. By linking climate news to investor capital allocation, this study contributes to the literature on sustainable finance and highlights the growing importance of media‐driven climate awareness in shaping investment preferences.