Impact of COVID-19 on stock price crash risk: Evidence from Chinese energy firms

This paper studies the impact of the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the stock price crash risk of energy firms in China. We find that the stock price crash risk of energy firms significantly decreases in the post-COVID-19 period. We also find that firms that engage in more corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities are less exposed to stock price crash risk in the post-COVID-19 period than those that engage in less CSR ac-tivities. Finally, we show that the effect of COVID-19 on stock price crash risk is less severe for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) than for non-SOEs in the post-COVID-19 period. Our findings demonstrate China's eco-nomic recovery in the post-COVID-19 period and have policy implications for firms to improve their resilience to exogenous shocks.

Automated summary

The impact of COVID-19 on the stock price crash risk of Chinese energy firms was investigated in this study. It was found that the stock price crash risk significantly decreases post-COVID-19, with firms engaging in more CSR activities and state-owned enterprises being less exposed to this risk. The findings demonstrate China's economic recovery and provide policy implications for companies to enhance their resilience to external shocks.