环境保护税费改革能改善企业环境绩效吗?——基于《环境保护税法》实施的准自然实验

Can Environmental Protection Tax Reform Improve Corporate Environmental Performance?A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on Environmental Protection Tax Law

企业环境绩效的改善是实现国家和地区环境保护目标的微观基础。分析环境保护税费改革是否会增强企业履行环境责任的意愿,对贯彻可持续发展战略,实现高质量发展具有重要意义。文章以2015-2020年沪深A股上市公司为样本,借助《环境保护税法》实施为准自然实验,从环境保护税费改革角度出发,采用双重差分法检验环境保护费改税对企业环境绩效的影响。结果表明:环境保护费改税显著促进了企业环境绩效改善,且该效应通过提升绿色创新水平、缓解融资约束进行传导。此外,环境保护税费改革对企业环境绩效改善的影响在非国有企业和经济发展水平较高地区中更显著。

The improvement of corporate environmental performance is the micro basis for achieving the national and regional environmental protection goals.It is of great significance to analyze whether the environmental protection tax reform can improve the willingness of enterprises to fulfill their environmental responsibilities for the implementation of sustainable development strategy and the realization of high-quality development.This paper takes A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2015 to 2020 as samples,carries out quasi-natural experiments based on Environmental Protection Tax Law,and uses difference-in-differences(DID)method to test the impact of transforming environmental protection fees into taxes on corporate environmental performance from the perspective of environmental protection tax reform.The results show that the transformation of environmental protection fees into taxes significantly improves the corporate environmental performance,and this effect is transmitted through enhancing the level of green innovation and alleviating financing constraints.In addition,the impact of environmental protection tax reform on the improvement of corporate environmental performance is more significant in non-state-owned enterprises and regions with higher level of economic development.