Does Private Equity Ownership Make Firms Cleaner? The Role of Environmental Liability Risks

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bellon, Aymeric
• 署名单位: University of North Carolina; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; University of North Carolina School of Medicine
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF FINANCIAL STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0893-9454
• DOI: 10.1093/rfs/hhaf035
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 2517
• 关键词: corporate social-responsibility; pollution; buyouts; LESSONS

摘要

This paper shows that private equity (PE) ownership, in private-to-private buyouts, leads to a reduction in pollution when the target company faces high potential liabilities for polluting. Conversely, PE-backed firms increase pollution when environmental liability risks are low, as shown by a novel natural experiment that reduced these risks for projects located on federal land. Exploiting specific PE deals within the energy industry, I find that PE governance is the main driver of the results. The results suggest that increasing litigation and regulation-related risks can mitigate the potentially detrimental effects of PE ownership on stakeholders.