Carbon Neutrality and Shareholder Value: Examining the Role of CO Abatement Technologies

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Mauro, Gabriele; Gualandris, Jury; Vanpoucke, Evelyne
• 署名单位: Universite Libre de Bruxelles; Solvay SA; Western University (University of Western Ontario)
• 刊物名称: PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1059-1478
• DOI: 10.1177/10591478261470127
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: firm performance; management; OPERATIONS; emissions

摘要

To address climate change, firms that pursue carbon neutrality might adopt various CO2 abatement technologies, including purchasing carbon credits; investing in third-party CO2 capture and storage; or redesigning products, processes, buildings, and energy sources to abate CO2 emissions. Existing research yields mixed evidence of the effects of such actions, especially technological choices, on shareholder value, though. Building on the Natural Resource-Based View, this article seeks to establish the relationship of different CO2 abatement technologies with shareholder value, using multiple event studies of firm-level carbon neutrality announcements and technology-level CO2 abatement announcements issued in the United States between 2014 and 2024. Of the various CO2 prevention (insetting) technologies, product and production technologies effectively create shareholder value by establishing a difficult-to-imitate source of competitive differentiation, whereas investments in green transportation, renewable energy, and buildings exert neutral effects on shareholder value. Among the various CO2 control (offsetting) technologies, investments in CO2 capture and storage technologies destroy shareholder value. Although purchasing carbon credits has a neutral effect in general, they can destroy shareholder value when announced in isolation, unbundled from other abatement technologies. These nuanced findings indicate that CO2 control technologies do not undermine shareholder value, as long as they offer an inexpensive means to adjust investments in offsets over time, to complement the insetting efforts. This research thus expands sustainable operations literature by clarifying the relationship between CO2 abatement technologies and shareholder value, while also providing initial cues of some underlying mechanisms. These insights in turn can inform managers and policymakers seeking to decrease risk while also accelerating climate transitions.