Events

Dr. Ruishen Zhang
Associate Professor of Accounting
Shanghai University of Finance and Economics

We examine how financial analysts discuss value- and values-related climate change concerns in earnings calls. Value questions probe the valuation ramifications of climate change, whereas values questions highlight the moral implications associated with a firm’s climate change impact. Questions on climate change frequently employ specific, and often quantitative, language, and they are tailored to both the industry in question and periods when such concerns are most relevant. Compared to other questions, climate change questions are less about value and more about values. Both climate-related question types increased over time, with value-related questions becoming relatively more important. However, being “green” is not an innate trait among analysts; less than 3 percent of the variance in climate questions is due to analyst fixed effects. Analyst labor markets care about climate change questions: Both question types positively predict analysts’ career trajectories, including promotions and mobility, with value queries showing a more pronounced effect. Our study emphasizes the significant role that financial analysts have in the value and values discovery of climate change information about firms.