Volume 64, Issue 4 pp. 3361-3386
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Climate risk exposure and debt concentration: Evidence from Chinese listed companies

Wuqi Song

Wuqi Song

School of Management, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

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Wenshuai Xu

Wenshuai Xu

School of Accounting, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai, China

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Wenzhou Qu

Corresponding Author

Wenzhou Qu

School of Management, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

Correspondence

Wenzhou Qu, School of Management, Xiamen University, Siming South Road No. 422, Siming District, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China.

Email: [email protected]

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Xu Gong

Xu Gong

School of Management, China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

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First published: 04 April 2024
Citations: 6

Abstract

We examine the impact of firm-level climate risk exposure (CRE) on the debt concentration choices of Chinese listed companies over the period 2010–2021. Our findings suggest that CRE prompts firms to choose debt structures with higher concentration, and this relationship holds true for both physical and transition risks. Further analysis reveals that this effect is more pronounced among firms with higher default risk, restricted access to capital, and lower accounting quality. Our findings remain solid to a battery of robustness tests. Collectively, our study sheds light on the economic consequences of through the lens of firms' debt concentration adjustments.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request.

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