Climate Risk and Deployment of Corporate Resources to Working Capital

This paper examines whether and to what extent exposure to climate risk affects the deployment of corporate resources to working capital. Using a large sample of listed US firms, we find that exposure to climate risk is negatively associated with working capital. This effect is accentuated in carbon-intensive industries and firms facing financial difficulties. These findings suggest that climate risk pressures firms to release unnecessary resources allocated to working capital, a result consistent with the disciplinary channel