劳动力保护政策与企业税收激进性——来自我国最低工资标准上调的经验证据

Labor Protection Policy and Corporate Tax Radicality:Evidence from the Hike in Minimum Wage Standards in China

作为保障劳动者获取合法权益的重要举措,我国最低工资政策产生了持续而广泛的影响。理论认为,最低工资标准上调所带来的劳动力成本压力会增加企业陷入财务困境的可能性,客观上刺激了企业通过税收筹划避税的动机。以2008-2015年的A股上市公司为样本来对上述理论预期进行检验,结果表明,我国最低工资标准的上调显著加剧了企业税收激进度,经济意义上对应公司所在地区的月最低工资每上涨100元,通过避税所带来的所得税现金流出会下降2.52%,并且这一促进作用主要集中在劳动密集度较高、平均工资水平较低以及成本转嫁能力较弱的企业样本中。进一步分析发现,企业通常会权衡该行为的收益与成本,表现为潜在的避税成本越低,便越有可能通过采取激进的税收策略来应对最低工资的上涨。此外,基于经济后果的检验还发现,在最低工资标准上调的背景下,这种税收激进行为对企业未来的价值创造具有明显的正向效应。上述结论的意义主要在于揭示了对劳动者加强保护的我国最低工资标准上调政策效果的两面性,提示政策保护程度与效果上应尽量兼顾与平衡,并针对这一政策在税收征管上相应进行重点监控。

As an important measure to protect workers′legitimate rights and interests,China′s minimum wage policy has had a sustained and extensive impact.The theory holds that the pressure of labor cost brought by the increase of minimum wage standard will increase the possibility of enterprises falling into financial distress,and objectively stimulate the motivation of enterprises to avoid tax through tax planning.The paper takes A-share listed companies in 2008-2015 as samples to test the above theoretical expectations.Results show that the increase of the minimum wage standard in China has significantly intensified the rapid progress of enterprise tax revenue.For every 100 yuan increase in the minimum wage in the economic sense corresponding to the company′s area,the income tax cash flow brought by tax avoidance will decrease by 2.52%,and this promotion effect is mainly concentrated in the sample of enterprises with high labor intensity,low average wage level and weak cost transfer ability.Further analysis finds that firms usually weigh the benefits and costs of this behavior,which shows that the lower the potential cost of tax avoidance,the more likely they are to adopt radical tax strategies to cope with the rise of the minimum wage.In addition,based on the test of economic consequences,it is found that under the background of the increase of minimum wage standard,this tax surge has a significant positive effect on the future value creation of enterprises.The significance of the above conclusions lies in revealing the two sides of the effect of the policy of raising the minimum wage standard to strengthen the protection of workers,suggesting that the degree and effect of the policy protection should be balanced as far as possible,and focusing on monitoring the tax collection and administration accordingly.