[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ecl/ohidic/2019-26.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Climate Change, Operating Flexibility, and Corporate Investment Decisions

Author

Listed:
  • Lin, Chen

    (The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Business and Economics)

  • Schmid, Thomas

    (The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Business and Economics)

  • Weisbach, Michael S.

    (Ohio State University (OSU) - Department of Finance; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI))

Abstract
Extreme temperatures lead to large fluctuations in electricity demand and wholesale prices of electricity, which in turn affects the optimal production process for firms to use. Using a large international sample of planned power plant projects, we measure the way that electric utilities’ investment decisions depend on the frequency of extreme temperatures. We find that they invest more in regions with more extreme temperatures. These investments are mostly in flexible gas and oil-fired power plants that can easily adjust their output to improve their operating flexibility. Our results suggest that climate change is becoming a meaningful factor affecting firms’ behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Lin, Chen & Schmid, Thomas & Weisbach, Michael S., 2019. "Climate Change, Operating Flexibility, and Corporate Investment Decisions," Working Paper Series 2019-26, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecl:ohidic:2019-26
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://ssrn.com/abstract=3478625
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rettl, Daniel A. & Stomper, Alex & Zechner, Josef, 2016. "The stability of dividends and wages: Effects of competitor inflexibility," CFS Working Paper Series 549, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).
    2. Jie Gan, 2007. "The Real Effects of Asset Market Bubbles: Loan- and Firm-Level Evidence of a Lending Channel," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(6), pages 1941-1973, November.
    3. Dixit, Avinash, 1980. "The Role of Investment in Entry-Deterrence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 90(357), pages 95-106, March.
    4. Avinash K. Dixit & Robert S. Pindyck, 1994. "Investment under Uncertainty," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 5474.
    5. D’Acunto, Francesco & Liu, Ryan & Pflueger, Carolin & Weber, Michael, 2018. "Flexible prices and leverage," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(1), pages 46-68.
    6. David Hirshleifer & Tyler Shumway, 2003. "Good Day Sunshine: Stock Returns and the Weather," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1009-1032, June.
    7. Bolton, Patrick & Chen, Hui & Wang, Neng, 2013. "Market timing, investment, and risk management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 40-62.
    8. Nicholas Bloom, 2009. "The Impact of Uncertainty Shocks," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(3), pages 623-685, May.
    9. Gan, Jie, 2007. "Collateral, debt capacity, and corporate investment: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(3), pages 709-734, September.
    10. Robert McDonald & Daniel Siegel, 1986. "The Value of Waiting to Invest," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 101(4), pages 707-727.
    11. Harford, Jarrad & Uysal, Vahap B., 2014. "Bond market access and investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(2), pages 147-163.
    12. Da, Zhi & Huang, Dayong & Yun, Hayong, 2017. "Industrial Electricity Usage and Stock Returns," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(1), pages 37-69, February.
    13. Xavier Giroud, 2013. "Proximity and Investment: Evidence from Plant-Level Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(2), pages 861-915.
    14. Sebastian J. Reinartz & Thomas Schmid, 2016. "Production Flexibility, Product Markets, and Capital Structure Decisions," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(6), pages 1501-1548.
    15. Billett, Matthew T. & Garfinkel, Jon A. & Jiang, Yi, 2011. "The influence of governance on investment: Evidence from a hazard model," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(3), pages 643-670.
    16. Abel, Andrew B, 1983. "Optimal Investment under Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(1), pages 228-233, March.
    17. Brandon Julio & Youngsuk Yook, 2012. "Political Uncertainty and Corporate Investment Cycles," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(1), pages 45-84, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lamperti, F. & Dosi, G. & Napoletano, M. & Roventini, A. & Sapio, A., 2020. "Climate change and green transitions in an agent-based integrated assessment model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    2. Francesco Lamperti & Andrea Roventini, 2022. "Beyond climate economics orthodoxy: impacts and policies in the agent-based integrated-assessment DSK model," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 19(3), pages 357-380, December.
    3. Chen, Sicen & Liu, Siyi & Zhang, Junsheng & Zhang, Pengdong, 2023. "The effect of extreme rainfall on corporate financing policies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 670-685.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Phan, Dinh Hoang Bach & Tran, Vuong Thao & Nguyen, Dat Thanh, 2019. "Crude oil price uncertainty and corporate investment: New global evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 54-65.
    2. Irawan, Denny & Okimoto, Tatsuyoshi, 2021. "Overinvestment and macroeconomic uncertainty: Evidence from renewable and non-renewable resource firms," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    3. Wei-Fong Pan, 2019. "Geopolitical Risk and R&D investment," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2019-11, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    4. Yang, Zhenyi & Yu, Yiwei & Zhang, Yubing & Zhou, Sili, 2019. "Policy uncertainty exposure and market value: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    5. Ilyas, Muhammad & Khan, Aamir & Nadeem, Muhammad & Suleman, Muhammad Tahir, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty, oil price shocks and corporate investment: Evidence from the oil industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    6. Drobetz, Wolfgang & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Janzen, Malte, 2018. "Policy uncertainty, investment, and the cost of capital," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 28-45.
    7. N. Bloom, 2016. "Fluctuations in uncertainty," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 4.
    8. Patrick Bolton & Ye Li & Neng Wang & Jinqiang Yang, 2020. "Dynamic Banking and the Value of Deposits," NBER Working Papers 28298, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Bolton, Patrick & Wang, Neng & Yang, Jinqiang, 2019. "Investment under uncertainty with financial constraints," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    10. Stijn Claessens & M Ayhan Kose, 2018. "Frontiers of macrofinancial linkages," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 95.
    11. Beckmann, Joscha & Davidson, Sharada Nia & Koop, Gary & Schüssler, Rainer, 2023. "Cross-country uncertainty spillovers: Evidence from international survey data," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    12. Shinohara, Takeshi & Okuda, Tatsushi & Nakajima, Jouchi, 2021. "Characteristics of Uncertainty Indices in the Macroeconomy," Economic Review, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 72(3), pages 246-267, July.
    13. Arbatli Saxegaard, Elif C. & Davis, Steven J. & Ito, Arata & Miake, Naoko, 2022. "Policy uncertainty in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    14. Vegard Høghaug Larsen, 2021. "Components Of Uncertainty," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 62(2), pages 769-788, May.
    15. Favara, Giovanni & Gao, Janet & Giannetti, Mariassunta, 2021. "Uncertainty, access to debt, and firm precautionary behavior," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 436-453.
    16. Badertscher, Brad & Shroff, Nemit & White, Hal D., 2013. "Externalities of public firm presence: Evidence from private firms' investment decisions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 682-706.
    17. Xin Su & Shengshi Zhou & Rui Xue & Jinfang Tian, 2020. "Does economic policy uncertainty raise corporate precautionary cash holdings? Evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(5), pages 4567-4592, December.
    18. Phan, Dinh Hoang Bach & Tran, Vuong Thao & Nguyen, Dat Thanh & Le, Anh, 2020. "The importance of managerial ability on crude oil price uncertainty-firm performance relationship," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    19. Dibiasi, Andreas & Abberger, Klaus & Siegenthaler, Michael & Sturm, Jan-Egbert, 2018. "The effects of policy uncertainty on investment: Evidence from the unexpected acceptance of a far-reaching referendum in Switzerland," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 38-67.
    20. Liu, Clark & Wang, Shujing, 2021. "Investment, idiosyncratic risk, and growth options," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 118-138.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ecl:ohidic:2019-26. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cdohsus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.