We investigate the causal impacts of air pollution on analyst forecast accuracy around earnings announcements. Using the air quality index in analyst workplaces, we provide direct evidence of the following. First, air pollution significantly reduces analysts' earnings forecast accuracy in...

We examine the causal effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on air quality in the context of China. Using the lockdowns in different cities as exogenous shocks, our difference-in-differences (DID) estimations show that lockdown policies significantly reduced air pollution by 12% on...

We investigate whether and how government fiscal squeeze affects local firms’ pollution emissions. To establish causality, we introduce a policy shock in China, namely, the canceling of agricultural taxes in 2005, to document that governments’ fiscal squeeze due to sudden tax decreases...