Semester of Graduation
Fall 2025
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Department
BUSINESS
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Sunay Mutlu
Abstract
This study examines whether firm-level climate change exposure is associated with financial analysts’ information environment. As climate change is becoming an increasingly prominent global topic and firms are disclosing more information regarding climate change risks and opportunities, it is important to understand whether this information is useful to participants in the capital market. This study extends prior research by focusing on a specific aspect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure—climate change exposure—and its relationship with analysts’ forecasts. Specifically, I investigate whether a firm’s score for climate change exposure derived from earnings calls is associated with increased usefulness to analysts as evidenced by analysts’ forecast properties. Results show a negative association between climate change mentions in earnings calls and the number of analysts following a firm, the accuracy of analysts’ forecasts, and analysts’ forecast revisions, and a positive association between climate change mentions in earnings calls and analysts’ forecast dispersion. These findings should be of interest to academics, practitioners, and standard setters, as the results suggest that either financial analysts do not find climate change mentions in earnings calls to be useful in their analyses or that analysts may interpret the climate change mentions as greenwashing.