Media climate change concern and stock returns

Author

• Liya CHU
• Xinrui DUAN
• Jun TU, Singapore Management UniversityFollow
• Luying WANG

Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

9-2026

Abstract

This study introduces a media climate change concern index, derived from unexpected climate change coverage across diverse media channels, including print (newspapers), voice (radio), and video (television). The index negatively predicts aggregate stock market returns, both in-sample and out-of-sample, offering potential gains for investors. Our findings emphasize the media's influence on market returns through climate change discussions, mainly via the cash-flow channel. This reveals possible shifts in product demand, while demand for green or brown stocks may not be altered as expected, possibly due to “greenwashing” by institutional investors exaggerating their environmental commitments.

Keywords

Return Predictability, Climate Change, Media, Sustainable Finance, Environment

Discipline

Business and Corporate Communications | Finance and Financial Management | Portfolio and Security Analysis

Research Areas

Finance

Publication

Financial Management

Volume

55

Issue

3

First Page

409

Last Page

434

ISSN

0046-3892

Identifier

10.1111/fima.70011

Publisher

Wiley

Citation

CHU, Liya; DUAN, Xinrui; Jun TU; and WANG, Luying. Media climate change concern and stock returns. (2026). Financial Management. 55, (3), 409-434.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7958

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1111/fima.70011