POLLUTION AS NEWS - MEDIA AND STOCK-MARKET REACTIONS TO THE TOXICS RELEASE INVENTORY DATA

This study investigates whether pollution data released by the EPA in the June 1989 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) were ''news'' to journali sts and investors. The results indicate that the higher pollution figu res (such as air emissions or offsite shipments of toxic waste) were i n a firm's TRI reports, the more likely print journalists were to writ e about the firm';s toxic releases. Investors also found this pollutio n information of interest, since nearly three quarters of the TRI poll ution releases came from publicly held companies. Stockholders in firm s reporting TRI pollution figures experienced negative, statistically significant abnormal returns upon the first release of the information . These abnormal returns translated into an average loss of $4.1 milli on in stock value for TRI firms on the day the pollution figures were first released. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.