Government subsidies are often used to stimulate environment-friendly investment. We find that
Chinese firms reduce green investment as the uncertainty of subsidies rises. This effect is
identified from weather-driven fluctuations in air pollution that lead to fluctuations in subsidy
allocations: Firms in cities where weather-driven subsidy uncertainty is high engage in less green
R&D investment, patent applications, and research staff. Industries that are heavy emitters and
those focused on environmental technologies are more affected. The results suggest that policy
uncertainty may originate not only from political and macroeconomic shocks but from behavioral
mechanisms that link policy to salient recent conditions.
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