Environmental Discourse and Firm Value: Evidence From Conference Calls

We examine environmental discourse in conference calls and the relation between this discourse and firm value. We measure the amount of environmental discourse as the frequency count of environmentally-related topics in the transcripts of conference calls. We argue that greater environmental discourse in conference calls indicates firms’ prioritization of environmental issues. Evidence indicates that greater amounts of environmental discourse are associated with lower share price and higher cost of capital, which we interpret as reflecting the relatively higher costs of environmentally responsible operations in excess of firm-specific benefits. Additional analysis examining general environmental, social, and governance (ESG), especially social and governance, discourse shows that it is associated with lower cost of capital and higher share price, suggesting that prioritization of social and governance issues does not imply higher operational costs and indeed may signal firm-specific value creation.