Tingyu Yu

Working Papers

Carbon in the Cloud (Job Market Paper) [Poster]

Presentations: UZH Rising Scholar Conference in Finance 2025, University of Zurich, University of Manchester, Imperial CEP, HEC-HKUST Sustainable Finance Webinar 2025, 6th Annual RCF-ECGI Corporate Finance and Governance Conference 2025, MFA 2026, BI-NBER-NYU Conference on Climate and Nature Finance Poster 2026, Dutch Sustainable Finance Workshop 2026, AFA 2027 (scheduled) 

Abstract: This paper studies how AI investment affects corporate emissions in a large global sample. Firms with higher AI worker shares subsequently reduce Scope 1 emissions on average, but effects are heterogeneous across sectors. Emissions fall broadly through improved forecasting and operational efficiency, whereas Energy and Utilities see emissions increase as AI is disproportionately used to expand carbon-intensive output rather than accelerate the green transition. Instrumental variable estimates using H-1B visa lotteries support a causal interpretation. In the aggregate, the emissions-weighted effect is close to zero, suggesting that brown AI use in a small set of high-emitting sectors offsets emission reductions elsewhere. Estimated emissions from electricity used for AI computing remain modest relative to these operational responses.

Corporate Climate Lobbying with Markus Leippold and Zacharias Sautner [Data]

Honorable Mention for the 2024 Moskowitz Prize

Presentations: EFA 2024, NFA 2024, University of Zurich, SFI Research Days 2024, CEPR-ESSEC-Luxembourg Conference on Sustainable Financial Intermediation 2024, Alpine Finance Summit 2024, GRASFI 2024, Stanford Institute for Theoretical Economics Conference 2024, Financial Regulation - Going Green in Halle 2025, ZEW Conference on Ageing and Sustainable Finance 2025, Moskowitz Prize Research Webinar at Kellogg 2025, Stockholm School of Economics*, Utrecht University*, HEC Paris*, Copenhagen Business School*, University of Mannheim*, Chinese University of Hong Kong*, National University of Singapore*, Singapore Management University*, St. Gallen Financial Economics Workshop*, and more

Abstract: A frequently voiced concern is that corporate lobbying activities, at least in part, hinder the implementation of ambitious climate policies. We quantify corporate anti- and pro-climate lobbying expenses of U.S.-listed firms and identify the largest corporate lobbyists and their motives. Firms spend on average $277k per year on anti-climate lobbying ($185k on pro-climate lobbying). Anti-climate lobbyists have more carbon-intensive business models, while pro-climate lobbyists exhibit more green innovation. Firms that spend more on anti-climate lobbying earn higher returns because of a risk channel. Our results align with the increasingly common investor view that anti-climate lobbying constitutes an investment risk.

Dissecting Corporate Climate Risks and Responses with Weiwei Hu and Kai Li

HKIMR Open-Bid Applied Research Programme

Presentations: AFA Poster 2022, Chinese Finance Annual Meeting 2022, HKIMR Webinar 2022*, FutFinInfo Webinar 2022*, China Finance Advancement Forum 2023*, ICGS Conference 2023, Düsseldorf CSR Conference 2023,  and UZH Rising Scholar Conference on Sustainable Finance 2024 

Abstract: Corporate climate disclosures combine risks and responses whose implications can differ substantially. Using a data-driven analysis of earnings call discussions, we decompose the broad dimensions of mitigation responses, transition risks, and physical risks into economically distinct components. Mitigation responses relate differently to subsequent emission outcomes: renewable energy substitution predicts reductions in firms’ own emissions, enabling technologies are linked to reductions in major customers’ emissions, and carbon management within existing production shows no such relations. The components also differ in the direction, timing, and persistence of their valuation associations: mitigation responses carry more favorable valuations and a lower implied cost of capital while risks show the reverse; the favorable valuation of mitigation shifts over time toward the responses that predict emission changes; and chronic weather exposure is penalized more persistently than acute disasters. Aggregate measures can mask these economically important component-level relationships. Our findings show that the composition of corporate climate risks and responses matters for understanding firms’ real adjustment and valuation.

Publications

Firm-Level Green Innovation Beyond Patents with Markus Leippold

Review of Finance, Volume 30, Issue 2, March 2026 (Lead Article) 

Presentations: University of Zurich, European Commission Summer School on Sustainable Finance 2023, ETH AI+X Summit 2023, ICGS Conference 2023, Düsseldorf CSR Conference 2023, TUM Sustainable Finance Workshop 2023, Australasian Finance and Banking Conference 2023, AFA Poster 2024, Baruch Climate ESG Conference Poster 2024, Future of Financial Information Conference 2024, ESSEC Amundi Webinar 2024, NTHU-UNSW Symposium on Sustainable Finance and Economics 2024, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management* 

This paper introduces a novel firm-level green innovation measure using ClimateBERT and GPT-3 to analyze earnings call transcripts. The measure captures a broader range of innovative activities beyond patents and distinguishes between invention and adoption dimensions of such efforts. These dimensions reveal distinctive geographical and industry patterns as well as key determinants. Firms engaged in green innovation, including many from carbon-intensive sectors, exhibit lower expected returns than their industry peers, likely due to improved environmental performance and ability to hedge against transition risk. The effects extend to non-patentable inventions and the widespread adoption of green innovations.

* Presentation by co-author.