环境规制影响企业融资约束吗?--基于新《环保法》的准自然实验

Do Environmental Regulations Affect Corporate Financing Constraints?Quasi-Natural Experimental Analysis Based on the New Environmental Protection Law

本文以新《环保法》实施作为准自然实验,采用双重差分模型探究环境规制对重污染企业融资约束的影响及其作用机制。研究发现,新《环保法》的实施显著缓解了重污染企业融资约束;截面异质性分析显示,新《环保法》对重污染企业融资约束的缓解作用仅在小规模企业和银行业发展较好、污染程度较高、法律环境较差的地区显著;经济机制分析表明,新《环保法》通过降低代理成本、缓解信息不对称、促进企业社会责任履行,缓解重污染企业融资约束。本文结论既拓展了环境规制对企业影响的研究边界,也为“双碳”目标下中国实现生态保护与经济增长的协同发展提供了理论支撑和经验证据。

This paper uses the New Environmental Protection Law(NEPL)as a quasi-natural experiment to explore the impact of environmental regulation on financing constraints of heavily polluting enterprises and the underlying mechanism.The results show that the implementation of the NEPL significantly reduces the financing constraints of heavily polluting enterprises.The cross-sectional heterogeneity analysis shows that the NEPL alleviates the financing constraints of heavily polluting enterprises only in small-scale enterprises and the regions with better development of banking industry,higher pollution level and poorer legal environment.The analysis of economic mechanism shows that the NEPL can reduce the financing constraints of heavily polluting enterprises by reducing agency cost,alleviating information asymmetry and promoting enterprises to fulfill their social responsibilities.The research conclusion of this paper not only expands the research boundary of environmental policy’s impact on enterprises,but also provides important theoretical support and empirical evidence for realizing the coordinated development of ecological protection and economic growth in China under the“dual carbon”goal.