Investor Attention to the Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement and Stock Returns - Archive ouverte HAL Access content directly
Journal Articles The Energy Journal Year : 2022

Investor Attention to the Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement and Stock Returns

Imane El Ouadghiri
  • Function : Author
Mathieu Gomes
  • Function : Author
  • PersonId : 1055909
Jonathan Peillex
Guillaume Pijourlet
  • Function : Author

Abstract

This study investigates whether investor attention to the fossil fuel divestment (FFD) movement is related to the stock returns of firms involved in extracting fossil fuels. We consider three complementary indicators of investor attention to the FFD movement: (1) the US weekly Google Search Volume Index on the topic "fossil fuel divestment," (2) the US weekly media coverage of fossil fuel divestment, and (3) the number of weekly visits to the "fossil fuel divestment" page on Wikipedia. Based on a sample of weekly returns on 1,850 US firms over the period 2012-2020, our econometric estimations report a positive relationship between investor attention to FFD and excess stock returns for US fossil fuel-related firms. Therefore, contrary to what the FFD campaigners might expect, the stigmatization of the fossil fuel industry does not drive down the stock returns on fossil fuel-related firms.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
manuscript_hal.pdf (666.07 Ko) Télécharger le fichier
Origin : Files produced by the author(s)

Dates and versions

hal-03549713 , version 1 (31-01-2022)

Identifiers

  • HAL Id : hal-03549713 , version 1

Cite

Imane El Ouadghiri, Mathieu Gomes, Jonathan Peillex, Guillaume Pijourlet. Investor Attention to the Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement and Stock Returns. The Energy Journal, 2022, 43 (6). ⟨hal-03549713⟩
93 View
235 Download

Share

Gmail Facebook Twitter LinkedIn More