题　目：Decrypting the Financial and Ecological Real Effects of Biodiversity Conservation

嘉　宾：张译 助理教授 香港科技大学（广州）

主持人：张澄宇 助理教授 上海交通大学安泰经济与管理学院

时　间：2025年5月7日（周三）13:30-15:00

地　点：上海交通大学 徐汇校区安泰浩然楼306室

内容简介:

This paper focuses on the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) to study the real effects of biodiversity conservation policies on firm behavior. Using plant-level data, we find that firms respond to regional biodiversity conservation listings in two ways 1) by mitigating onsite pollution and strategically reallocating offsite pollutant releases, and 2) by achieving the attainment ratio through the adoption of green technologies or green hiring. At the firm level, we document a reduction in total onsite pollutant releases among firms with a high proportion of plants subject to ESA enforcement.  Moreover, ESA shocks are priced into equity markets, as indicated by a decline in Tobin’s Q. The associated environmental costs lead to firms with greater exposure to biodiversity conservation policies exhibit significant declines in investment and profitability. These firms also experience simultaneous adjustments in realized returns in financial markets. Overall, our findings highlight the real impact of the ESA on firms' adaptation to regulatory requirements, with the associated shocks reflected in capital market valuation. Furthermore, ESA enforcement contributes significantly to improvements in ecological outcomes.

演讲人简介：

Dr. Zhang Yi is an Assistanf Professor in Financial Technology from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) and also a visiting research associate at Imperial College London. He received his PhD in Finance from Imperial College Business School. His research interests include ESG asset pricing, Climate Finance, Macro Finance, Alternative Data and Applied Machine Learning.

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