民族地区环境保护投入对企业价值的影响研究——基于重污染行业上市公司的经验分析

A Study of the Impact Investment in Environmental Protection has on Enterprise Value in Ethnic Minority Areas——Based on an Analysis of the Experience of Listed Companies in Heavily Polluted Industries

由于我国民族地区对自然资源有着高度的依赖性,经济的快速发展使得环境污染的负外部性特征愈发明显,亟需企业积极承担环保责任。加大环保投入,创新环保技术,生产环境友好型的绿色产品,以节约资源,保护环境,但这势必会影响企业价值,对企业而言未必是最好的战略选择。因此,本文以2011-2018年我国民族地区A股上市公司样本,分析民族地区企业环保投入对企业价值的影响。结果表明,环保投入与企业价值呈U型关系,即环保投入持续增加,企业价值便会呈先下降后增加的态势,且股权制衡对二者具有显著的正向调节效应。本研究将民族地区微观企业行为与宏观生态环境相结合,有利于激发企业进行环境治理的积极性,进而推动民族地区的可持续发展。

Due to the high dependence of ethnic areas on natural resources,rapid economic development often makes the negativity of environmental pollution highly obvious. Therefore,it is urgent for enterprises to actively take responsibility for environmental protection,increase investment in environmental protection,innovate environmental protection technology, and produce environmentally friendly green products in order to save resources and protect the environment. However,this is bound to affect the enterprise ’s value and may not be the best strategic choice for enterprises.Therefore,this paper selects the data of listed enterprises in ethnic regions from 2011 to 2018 asits sample,and,on the basis of studying the relationship between investment in environmental protection and enterprise value,tests the regulatory effect of equity balance on them. The results show that the relationship between investment in environmental protection and enterprise value is Ushaped,that is,when the investment in environmental protection continues to increase,the enterprise value first decreases and then increases. Further research shows that equity balance reinforces these effects. Since implementing the Western Region Development Strategy in 2001,although China’s ethnic areas produced regional economic clusters,they also caused an environmental spillover effect,making the problem of environmental pollution particularly prominent. In recent years,enterprises in ethnic minority areas have actively taken social responsibility and increased investment in environmental protection. In the short term,the cost-benefit effect of the investment in environmental protection offsets the recognition effect of stakeholders on the legitimacy of enterprises. The economic benefit is less than the margin cost,which increases the financial burden of the company.However,in the long run,increasing the scale of enterprises ’ investment in environmental protection not only improves the environmental quality of the region,but also establishes a good brand image for them. At this point,the economic benefits of investment in environmental protection start to exceed the margin costs,and further enhance the enterprise’s value. For listed enterprises with a large degree of equity balance,this phenomenon is more significant,that is,enterprises with a high equity balance can strengthen the U-shaped relationship between environmental protection investment and enterprise value.At present,China is in a critical period of transformation,social problems break out in concentrated forms, environmental problems emerge endlessly,and the environmental pollution problem in ethnic areas have become more serious. The situation needs the whole society to continue to increase investment in environmental protection. According to the research results of this paper,although some enterprises in ethnic minority areas have indeed increased the scale of investment in environmental protection under the mandatory requirements of environmental regulations,there are still some problems,such as insufficient investment in environmental protection,small scale and low efficiency of capital use,unreasonable investment structure,and lack of awareness of environmental protection. In view of this,this paper proposes the following policy recommendations:Ⅰ. Strengthen the role of the government in terms of macro-control and guidance1. Make proper use of fiscal and tax policies.Governments in ethnic minority areas should increase financial subsidies,discounts on loan interests,price subsidies,loss subsidies and loan repayment before taxes,and encourage and guide enterprises to assume environmental responsibility and increase investment in environmental protection2. Reorient the use of environmental funds.First,the governments in ethnic minority areas should play a leading role in investment in environmental protection,and establish a unified environmental finance system and a long-term and stable mechanism for the growth of environmental protection funds. Moreover,the governments in ethnic minority areas should also shift the focus of investment in environmental protection,invest environmental protection funds into sources for the treatment of industrial pollution,allocate special funds to the pollution treatment of heavily polluting enterprises,and ensure the normal operation of relevant facilities. In addition,they should encourage and guide enterprises to implement clean production and innovate technology for environmental protection,so as to gradually realize the transfer from an end treatment to a source treatment.3. Actively carry out policy innovation,formulate and improve policies on emission rights.When formulating and implementing policies on emission rights,governments in ethnic minority areas should adopt measures in accordance with local conditions and formulate differentiated supporting measures. In addition,they should organize and build a shared platform for environmental information in ethnic minority areas to promote the emission rights among enterprises;implement and improve emission mortgage, emission rights repurchase and an emission rights auction system to stabilize the transaction price of emission rights.Ⅱ. Establish and improve internal environmental management mechanisms.1. Raise the awareness of environmental protection. Enterprise managers should raise the awareness of environmental protection,change traditional production and management concepts,and carry out environmental governance while pursuing economic benefits to the greatest extent,so as to achieve a win-win-win situation of enterprise value,social benefits and environmental performance.2. Establish and improve the environmental accounting system for enterprises. The environmental accounting system should be able to proactively identify and quantify the environmental governance costs associated with the enterprise ’s production and operation.3. Strengthen the disclosure of enterprises’ investment in environmental protection. Enterprises should improve the corresponding environmental information disclosure system and strictly follow the system to disclose environmental information.Ⅲ. Raise the public ’s awareness of environmental supervision and response.1. Encourage the public to fully exercise their rights to know and supervise. The public should establish a sense of ownership,make full use of their rights to know and supervise,and actively supervise the enterprises ’ performance on social responsibility,so as to promote the effective implementation of environmental policies,laws and regulations.2. Encourage the public to establish awareness of "green consumption". The public should support the development of a circular economy in thought and action,guide the production and management direction of enterprises with the help of green consumption behavior,and urge enterprises to adjust the production and management mode,so as to promote enterprises to take the road of sustainable development.