企業為什么自愿花費資源進行碳減排活動?該研究旨在通過考察企業碳績效與財務績效間關系來回答這個問題。研究采用美國標準普爾500公司樣本,利用碳排放數據計量碳績效來考察企業碳績效與財務績效間關系。為了減緩內生性問題,研究運用聯立方程模型進行分析。結果表明,企業碳績效和財務績效正相關。研究還發現,財務績效好的企業的碳信息披露透明度更高。企業碳績效和財務績效可以兼得的證據表明,兼負財務與社會責任的企業高管之所以愿意從事碳減排活動,是因為這樣做不僅可以改善企業的綠色形象,還可以獲取切實的經濟利益。

Extant literature has failed to document consistent evidence that socially responsible activities are positively related to financial performance. Our study attempts to address this issue by investigating the relation between carbon performance and financial performance. We employ a sample of US S&P500 corporations and use emissions reduction to measure carbon performance and Tobin’s Q to measure financial performance. We also consider the influence of carbon disclosure on the relation by conducting simultaneous equations analysis. The results show a positive relation between carbon performance and financial performance. In addition,we find firms with better financial performance tend to be more transparent in carbon disclosure. A higher degree of correspondence between carbon performance and financial performance indicates managers who have chosen carbon projects that have not only improved firm green image but have also generated tangible economic benefit.