TY - JOUR

T1 - Stock Market Reactions to Climate Activism - An Event Study of the Fridays For Future Movement

AU - Schuster, Mario

AU - Bornhöft, Sophie C.

AU - Lueg, Rainer

AU - Bouzzine, Yassin Denis

N1 - Conference code: 83

PY - 2023/8/1

Y1 - 2023/8/1

N2 - The substance of this research lies in answering whether and how the European and U.S. stock markets react to the upheaval caused by climate activists. Accordingly, we perform an event study on firms included in the Stoxx Europe 600 and S&P 500 to examine reactions to Global Climate Strikes by Fridays For Future. We analyze the significance of abnormal returns utilizing three event windows covering anticipation, short-term, and lagged effects and divide the sample according to environmental performance grades. Our findings reveal that climate strikes cause a general loss in firm value, exposing no profiteers. We identify differences in market reactions among both examined regions, particularly concerning the promptness of reactions. Enriching literature on stock market reactions, we prove that investors’ reaction is not limited to primary stakeholder events but also encompasses secondary stakeholder pressure. Furthermore, we provide evidence that climate activism has a processual character causing recurring effects on the stock market.

AB - The substance of this research lies in answering whether and how the European and U.S. stock markets react to the upheaval caused by climate activists. Accordingly, we perform an event study on firms included in the Stoxx Europe 600 and S&P 500 to examine reactions to Global Climate Strikes by Fridays For Future. We analyze the significance of abnormal returns utilizing three event windows covering anticipation, short-term, and lagged effects and divide the sample according to environmental performance grades. Our findings reveal that climate strikes cause a general loss in firm value, exposing no profiteers. We identify differences in market reactions among both examined regions, particularly concerning the promptness of reactions. Enriching literature on stock market reactions, we prove that investors’ reaction is not limited to primary stakeholder events but also encompasses secondary stakeholder pressure. Furthermore, we provide evidence that climate activism has a processual character causing recurring effects on the stock market.

KW - Management studies

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/f69e95aa-5824-351c-831b-9929b5003826/

U2 - 10.5465/AMPROC.2023.18303abstract

DO - 10.5465/AMPROC.2023.18303abstract

M3 - Conference abstract in journal

VL - 2023

JO - Academy of Management Proceedings

JF - Academy of Management Proceedings

SN - 0065-0668

IS - 1

M1 - 18303

T2 - 83rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management - AOM 2023

Y2 - 4 August 2023 through 8 August 2023

ER -