Disaster threatens the investment of enterprises in China

We investigate the impacts of disasters on investment for affected firms in China. We find that disasters have a significantly negative impact on the total investment of affected enterprises. The influence extends to investment structure, efficiency, and volatility. We further discover that the impacts are significantly linked to the level of disaster exposure. We analyze several mechanisms through which disasters can influence investment, including the risks associated with market volatility, fluctuations in labor costs, and challenges in securing credit. Technological and geophysical disasters are the main types that affect enterprise investment. The negative impact of disasters decreases over time and is observed in large-scale enterprises and those situated in the eastern regions of China. By examining multiple investment dimensions and testing three distinct channels, the current study offers a systematic account of how disaster exposure reshapes corporate capital allocation in an emerging market context.