Climate shocks and innovation persistence: evidence from extreme precipitation

Abstract Climate change has intensified extreme weather events globally, with extreme precipitation emerging as one of the most destructive meteorological phenomena causing significant economic losses and disrupting corporate operations. Understanding how these environmental shocks affect firms’ inn...

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Main Authors: Xue Lei, Shouchao He
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2025-06-01
Series:Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05229-5
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author Xue Lei
Shouchao He
author_facet Xue Lei
Shouchao He
author_sort Xue Lei
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Climate change has intensified extreme weather events globally, with extreme precipitation emerging as one of the most destructive meteorological phenomena causing significant economic losses and disrupting corporate operations. Understanding how these environmental shocks affect firms’ innovation persistence is crucial for maintaining competitive advantages and driving economic growth in an increasingly uncertain climate future. Using a comprehensive panel dataset combining listed companies’ financial information and meteorological data from 2012 to 2022, this study investigates how extreme precipitation affects corporate innovation persistence. Our findings reveal that extreme precipitation significantly inhibits innovation persistence, with a stronger negative effect on innovation output than input. Further mechanistic studies reveal that extreme precipitation may reshape firms’ innovation trajectories through two potential channels: exacerbating financing constraints and weakening organizational resilience. Additionally, we find that executives with R&D backgrounds and international experience exhibit superior ability to maintain innovation momentum, while geographic diversification serves as an effective risk mitigation mechanism. Our heterogeneity analysis further reveals that non-state-owned enterprises are more vulnerable to extreme precipitation’s negative impacts than their state-owned counterparts, suggesting the important buffering role of state resources and implicit guarantees. This study provides novel evidence on environmental factors’ impact on sustained innovation capabilities and offers valuable insights for investment decisions and risk management in capital markets, particularly for emerging economies facing rapid technological development and environmental challenges.
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spelling doaj-art-4fbcbc33f00a4512b46caf01d2f6e6602025-08-20T03:47:24ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922025-06-0112111410.1057/s41599-025-05229-5Climate shocks and innovation persistence: evidence from extreme precipitationXue Lei0Shouchao He1School of Management, Shanghai UniversitySchool of Economics and Management, Wenzhou University of TechnologyAbstract Climate change has intensified extreme weather events globally, with extreme precipitation emerging as one of the most destructive meteorological phenomena causing significant economic losses and disrupting corporate operations. Understanding how these environmental shocks affect firms’ innovation persistence is crucial for maintaining competitive advantages and driving economic growth in an increasingly uncertain climate future. Using a comprehensive panel dataset combining listed companies’ financial information and meteorological data from 2012 to 2022, this study investigates how extreme precipitation affects corporate innovation persistence. Our findings reveal that extreme precipitation significantly inhibits innovation persistence, with a stronger negative effect on innovation output than input. Further mechanistic studies reveal that extreme precipitation may reshape firms’ innovation trajectories through two potential channels: exacerbating financing constraints and weakening organizational resilience. Additionally, we find that executives with R&D backgrounds and international experience exhibit superior ability to maintain innovation momentum, while geographic diversification serves as an effective risk mitigation mechanism. Our heterogeneity analysis further reveals that non-state-owned enterprises are more vulnerable to extreme precipitation’s negative impacts than their state-owned counterparts, suggesting the important buffering role of state resources and implicit guarantees. This study provides novel evidence on environmental factors’ impact on sustained innovation capabilities and offers valuable insights for investment decisions and risk management in capital markets, particularly for emerging economies facing rapid technological development and environmental challenges.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05229-5
spellingShingle Xue Lei
Shouchao He
Climate shocks and innovation persistence: evidence from extreme precipitation
Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
title Climate shocks and innovation persistence: evidence from extreme precipitation
title_full Climate shocks and innovation persistence: evidence from extreme precipitation
title_fullStr Climate shocks and innovation persistence: evidence from extreme precipitation
title_full_unstemmed Climate shocks and innovation persistence: evidence from extreme precipitation
title_short Climate shocks and innovation persistence: evidence from extreme precipitation
title_sort climate shocks and innovation persistence evidence from extreme precipitation
url https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05229-5
work_keys_str_mv AT xuelei climateshocksandinnovationpersistenceevidencefromextremeprecipitation
AT shouchaohe climateshocksandinnovationpersistenceevidencefromextremeprecipitation