The effect of the Japan 2011 disaster on nuclear and alternative energy stocks worldwide: An event study

Abstract

This event study investigates the impact of the Japanese nuclear disaster in Fukushima-Daiichi on the daily stock prices of German, French, Japanese and U.S. nuclear utility and alternative energy firms. Hypotheses regarding the (cumulative) abnormal returns based on a three-factor model are analyzed through joint tests by multivariate regression models and bootstrapping. Our results show significant abnormal returns for Japanese nuclear utility firms during the one-week event window and the subsequent four-week post-event window. Furthermore, while French and German nuclear utility and alternative energy stocks exhibit significant abnormal returns during the event window, we cannot confirm abnormal returns for U.S. stocks.