Speaker:
Pedro Matos
Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
Discussant:
Alexander Ljungqvist
Stockholm School of Economics
Abstract
Paper Authors: Po-Hsuan, Hsu Hao Liang, and Pedro Matos
In a 2010 special report, The Economist called the resurgence of state-owned megaenterprises, especially those in emerging economies, “Leviathan Inc.”, and criticized their poor governance and low efficiency. We show that stateowned enterprises engage more in environmental issues and are more responsive to salient environmental events. The effect is more pronounced in energy firms located in emerging economies and countries with higher energy risks, and with direct ownership held by domestic government rather than sovereign wealth funds. Market value does not suffer from such engagement. These results suggest that “Leviathan Inc.” may be better positioned at dealing with environmental externalities.
