International Business and Entrepreneurship Faculty Publications and Presentations

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-3-2025

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between brand capital and corporate environmental policies using toxic chemical release data. Using a sample of 4752 publicly listed U.S. firm-year observations from 1991 to 2020, we find that brand capital is significantly and negatively related to firm's toxic emissions, suggesting that firms with stronger brand capital tend to exhibit more environmentally responsible behavior. Further evidence reveals that the effect of brand capital on corporate environmental policies is more pronounced for firms in communities that prefer stringent environmental regulations. Additional analysis points to increased financial stability, environmental innovations, and environmental abatement investments as the mechanisms behind the documented effect of brand capital on firms' environmental policies. The results are robust to numerous robustness tests, including the use of alternative measures of brand capital, environmental policies, and several endogeneity tests. The results support the idea that strong brand capital can promote environmental responsibility in firms.

Comments

Original published version available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2025.102885

Publication Title

Journal of Corporate Finance

DOI

10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2025.102885

Available for download on Saturday, September 04, 2027

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