The impact of haze on the availability of company debt financing: Evidence for sustainability of Chinese listed companies

Abstract

Based on the data of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2013 to 2017 and the air quality monitoring data released by China Environmental Monitoring Station, the paper examines the impact of haze on the availability of company debt financing by using fixed-effects model and quantile regression model. The empirical results show that: Firstly, haze has a positive impact on the demand of company debt financing, and the positive effect is marginal increment. Secondly, haze has a negative impact on the availability of company debt financing, and the negative impact is also marginal increment. Further study found that heavy polluting industry characteristics weaken the impact of haze on company debt financing availability. The paper analyzes the influence of air pollution on enterprise management from the perspective of company debt financing and explains the necessity for companies to implement an environmentally sustainable development strategy.