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 activities. 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 economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 period and have policy implications for firms to improve their resilience to exogenous shocks.