Corporate carbon emissions and market value

Abstract Driven by global low-carbon governance and China’s goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, enterprises, as the main players in carbon emissions and economic development, are faced with the test of achieving a win-win situation between their own economic benefits and social benefits....

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Main Author: Jinxu Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-08-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-16455-x
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author Jinxu Zhang
author_facet Jinxu Zhang
author_sort Jinxu Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Driven by global low-carbon governance and China’s goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, enterprises, as the main players in carbon emissions and economic development, are faced with the test of achieving a win-win situation between their own economic benefits and social benefits. This paper uses data of non-financial A-share listed companies in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2008 to 2018 to empirically examine the impact of corporate carbon emissions on firm value and its mechanism. The study finds that the higher the corporate carbon emissions, the lower the firm value. After tests using the difference-in-differences model, instrumental variable analysis, and placebo tests, the research results remain robust. Mechanism analysis shows that corporate carbon emissions have a negative impact on firm value by reducing the corporate risk-taking level, product market competitiveness, and the shareholding ratio of green investors. Further research reveals that the negative impact of corporate carbon emissions on firm value is more significant in enterprises with high agency costs, high real earnings management levels, and poor corporate social responsibility performance. The research contributions of this paper are mainly reflected in three aspects: first, it is the first to reveal the direct effect of carbon emission risks on firm value in the Chinese context, expanding the research dimension on the economic consequences of carbon emission risks; second, it enriches the research on factors affecting firm value and expands the boundary of theoretical interpretation; third, it explores the heterogeneous characteristics of how carbon emission risks affect firm value and defines the boundary conditions of the relationship between the two.
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spelling doaj-art-73ceb17cf0f34f96b97bc17b346e8d332025-08-24T11:29:50ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-08-0115111810.1038/s41598-025-16455-xCorporate carbon emissions and market valueJinxu Zhang0School of Economics and Management, Northeast Forestry UniversityAbstract Driven by global low-carbon governance and China’s goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, enterprises, as the main players in carbon emissions and economic development, are faced with the test of achieving a win-win situation between their own economic benefits and social benefits. This paper uses data of non-financial A-share listed companies in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2008 to 2018 to empirically examine the impact of corporate carbon emissions on firm value and its mechanism. The study finds that the higher the corporate carbon emissions, the lower the firm value. After tests using the difference-in-differences model, instrumental variable analysis, and placebo tests, the research results remain robust. Mechanism analysis shows that corporate carbon emissions have a negative impact on firm value by reducing the corporate risk-taking level, product market competitiveness, and the shareholding ratio of green investors. Further research reveals that the negative impact of corporate carbon emissions on firm value is more significant in enterprises with high agency costs, high real earnings management levels, and poor corporate social responsibility performance. The research contributions of this paper are mainly reflected in three aspects: first, it is the first to reveal the direct effect of carbon emission risks on firm value in the Chinese context, expanding the research dimension on the economic consequences of carbon emission risks; second, it enriches the research on factors affecting firm value and expands the boundary of theoretical interpretation; third, it explores the heterogeneous characteristics of how carbon emission risks affect firm value and defines the boundary conditions of the relationship between the two.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-16455-xCarbon emissionsFirm market valueRisk-taking capacityProduct market competitivenessGreen investor ownership
spellingShingle Jinxu Zhang
Corporate carbon emissions and market value
Scientific Reports
Carbon emissions
Firm market value
Risk-taking capacity
Product market competitiveness
Green investor ownership
title Corporate carbon emissions and market value
title_full Corporate carbon emissions and market value
title_fullStr Corporate carbon emissions and market value
title_full_unstemmed Corporate carbon emissions and market value
title_short Corporate carbon emissions and market value
title_sort corporate carbon emissions and market value
topic Carbon emissions
Firm market value
Risk-taking capacity
Product market competitiveness
Green investor ownership
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-16455-x
work_keys_str_mv AT jinxuzhang corporatecarbonemissionsandmarketvalue