Attention to Global Warming
Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: We find that people revise their beliefs about climate change upward when experiencing warmer than usual temperatures in their area. Using international data, we show that attention to climate change, as proxied by Google search volume, increases when the local temperature is abnormally high. In financial markets, stocks of carbon-intensive firms underperform firms with low carbon emissions in abnormally warm weather. Retail investors (not institutional investors) sell carbon-intensive firms in such weather, and return patterns are unlikely to be driven by changes in fundamentals. Our study sheds light on peoples’ collective beliefs and actions about global warming.
Source: Review of Financial Studies
DOI: 10.1093/rfs/hhz086
Authors: Darwin Choi, Zhenyu Gao, Wenxi Jiang
Institution: Chinese University of Hong Kong
Language: English
Subfield: Finance
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2884202799