If Money Talks: Climate change-related regulation and firms’ cost of debt

Abstract

This study uses a novel dataset from 54 countries and regions to explore how exposure to climate change regulatory shocks influences firms' debt costs. The findings reveal that such exposure generally increases the cost of debt. However, this scenario is reversed for firms that find greater opportunities within climate change regulations, suggesting that the regulatory risk premium associated with climate change may not always be positive. The results also indicate that the negative impact of regulations is more pronounced in companies with a higher beta, greater asset tangibility, and poorer environmental innovation performance. Furthermore, this increase in debt costs can be partially attributed to heightened profitability volatility and diminished growth prospects arising from reduced capital expenditures. These insights underscore the need to refine climate regulation policies to better support firms’ transition toward environmentally sustainable practices.