Stock price reactions to the climate activism by Fridays for Future: The roles of public attention and environmental performance

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschung

Authors

This research investigates how the European and U.S. stock markets reacted to the upheaval caused by Fridays for Future. We perform an event study on stocks listed in the Stoxx Europe 600 and S&P 500 to examine their price reactions to the Global Climate Strikes 1–11. We analyze the significance of abnormal stock returns utilizing three event windows covering anticipation, short-term, and lagged effects. We also divide the sample by environmental performance grades. Our findings reveal that climate activism significantly affected stock valuation for all 11 Global Climate Strikes. Superior environmental performance is comparatively beneficial for firm values when climate activism receives a high level of public attention. We identify differences in the market reactions between Europe and the U.S. Also, we enrich the literature on stock market reactions by demonstrating that investors react, not only to primary stakeholder events (i.e., enactment of regulations by governments) but also to secondary stakeholder pressure (i.e., NGO activism). Furthermore, we provide evidence that climate activism has a processual character that causes recurring effects on the stock market. Our study encourages policymakers to increase environmental pressure as a mechanism for guiding green transformation.
OriginalspracheEnglisch
Aufsatznummer118608
ZeitschriftJournal of Environmental Management
Jahrgang344
ISSN0301-4797
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 15.10.2023

Bibliographische Notiz

Funding Information:
We would like to thank the participants as well as the convenors and facilitators of the 2023 BAFA Annual Conference with Doctoral Masterclasses for their helpful remarks, comments, and recommendations that helped to improve the quality of the manuscript. Furthermore, the manuscript benefited comprehensively from the feedback received as part of the review process preceding the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management.

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© 2023

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