Climate awareness in management and deviation from target leverage: Evidence from China

Authors

Qiang JI, Institutes of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China School of Public Policy and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, ChinaFollow

Document Type

Research-Article

Author

Rufei Ma, Xinxin Fu, Qiang Ji, Pengxiang Zhai

Journal Name

Finance Research Letters

Keywords

Climate change, Managerial attention, Ownership structure, Target leverage

Abstract

We explore the impact of managerial climate attention on leverage deviation . The results show that greater managerial attention to climate issues is associated with smaller deviations from target leverage in the future, indicating that managers concerning climate issues tend to achieve a more optimized capital structure. This effect is robust to potential leverage measure bias, confounding effect of external crisis, and sample selection bias. Moreover, this effect is more pronounced in firms with concentrated ownership, significant institutional holdings, and government ownership, emphasizing the critical role that ownership structure plays in this relationship. © 2025

http://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2025.106915

Recommended Citation

JI, Qiang (2025) "Climate awareness in management and deviation from target leverage: Evidence from China," Double Helix Methodology: Vol. 6: Iss. 3, Article 10.
Available at: https://diis-mips.researchcommons.org/helix-content/vol6/iss3/10