題目：Firm Commitments

摘要：A growing fraction of publicly traded companies globally have voluntarily made commitments to attain reductions in their carbon emissions by a certain date. We explore two major commitment movements, the carbon disclosure project, and the science-based target initiative. We find that: (1) while the companies that make commitments subsequently further reduce their emissions, the effect of these initiatives on overall emissions of publicly traded companies (including those that do not commit) has been small; (2) the companies that commit, and those that make the most ambitious commitments, tend to be companies with lower emissions; (3) firm commitments are less prevalent in countries where governments have made national commitments. Overall, the movements to get companies to commit have been successful in drawing in the willing but have found greater resistance from the companies that need to reduce their emissions the most.

1.Main Story & Results

背景：全球越來越多的上市公司自愿承諾在特定日期之前實(shí)現(xiàn)碳排放量的減少。

問題：本文主要探究公司的承諾是否切實(shí)影響企業(yè)的碳排放行為，以及為何會(huì)選擇做出承諾。

發(fā)現(xiàn)：基于公司承諾加入或響應(yīng)碳披露項(xiàng)目（CDP）和基于科學(xué)的目標(biāo)倡議（SBTi），研究發(fā)現(xiàn)：雖然做出承諾的公司隨后進(jìn)一步減少排放，但這些舉措對(duì)上市公司（包括未承諾的公司）整體排放的影響很?。蛔龀龀兄Z的公司以及做出最雄心勃勃的承諾的公司往往是排放量較低的公司； (3) 在政府做出承諾的國家，堅(jiān)定的承諾不太普遍。

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Our first finding is that there is a weak negative relation between the growth in total corporate carbon emissions and the increase in the number of firms making commitments (see Figure 1).

Our second main finding is that the companies that choose to make a commitment are the ones with lower carbon emissions to begin with.

2.重要的Test

（1）What drives a company to commit（Extensive margin）

In this section, we explore several such characteristics to explain two types of choices: the extensive-margin choice（是否承諾）, which is a binary decision whether to commit or not, and the intensive-margin choice（承諾強(qiáng)度） that reflects the intensity of the firm’s commitment. Throughout this analysis our focus in on the fundamental link between a firm’s commitment decision and the level of its scope 1 emissions.

Variation 變動(dòng)的來源

the possibility that firms located in industries with low emissions are unlikely to bother with any commitments to begin with （Column 4）

This result indicates that, within a given industry, it is companies with lower emissions that are more likely to make commitments（Column 5）

companies that reduce their emissions subsequently are more likely to make commitments, perhaps because it is easier for them to do so.（Column 6）

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（2）Intensive margin

Once a company makes a commitment, how strong is this commitment and what drives a company to make a weaker or stronger commitment?

Table 5. In columns 1-2, we study the predictors of emission abatement. We observe a strong negative relationship between the level of emissions and the abatement rate, that is, firms that have higher emissions reduce their emissions at a slower annual rate(減排)

In columns 3-4, we look at the maximum number of years for which firms make commitments

Finally, when we look at the effect of emissions on the maximum emission reduction the firm commits to, we find that the effect is negative, suggesting that firms with higher emissions tend to commit to milder emission reduction

In sum, our results indicate that the level of emissions plays an important role in the strength of firm commitment. Hence, the decision to commit is not only a simple yes or no, but also a more nuanced choice that reflects the perceived likelihood of making such commitments.