The Reputational Penalties for Environmental Violations: Empirical Evidence

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Law and Economics
Year: 2005
Volume: 48
Issue: 2
Pages: 653-75

Authors (3)

Karpoff, Jonathan M (University of Washington) Lott, John R, Jr (not in RePEc) Wehrly, Eric W (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.670 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper examines the sizes of the fines, damage awards, remediation costs, and market value losses imposed on companies that violate environmental regulations. Firms that violate environmental laws suffer statistically significant losses in the market value of firm equity. The losses, however, are of similar magnitudes to the legal penalties imposed, and in the cross section, the market value loss is related to the size of the legal penalty. Thus, environmental violations are disciplined largely through legal and regulatory penalties, not through reputational penalties.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jlawec:y:2005:v:48:i:2:p:653-75
Journal Field
Industrial Organization
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25