Redeploying dirty assets: The impact of environmental

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Chen, Jason
• 署名单位: Auburn University System; Auburn University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-405X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2025.104070
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: The market for corporate assets; Financial distress; Industrial pollution; Environmental economics

摘要

This paper investigates how firms' pollution incentives are influenced by their ability to divest polluted assets. My empirical setting is a major reform that exempts purchasers from liability for past contamination. Using a difference-in-differences framework, I find that the reform reduces toxic emissions, lowers bankruptcy risk, and increases firm value. Cross-sectional tests show that the decline in emissions is driven by firms with weaker financial health and fewer assets. These findings highlight a novel net worth channel: by limiting ex-post liability, the reform enhances landowners' net worth ex-ante, reducing their incentives to engage in risky behavior, such as excessive emissions.