环境税能否降低中国能源消耗

CAN ENVIRONMENTAL TAXES REDUCE CHINA'S ENERGY CONSUMPTION

环境友好与能源节约是中国经济可持续发展的良好保障和动力源泉,如何协调两者之间的关系对构建“资源节约型”和“环境友好型”社会至关重要。本文采用2006—2019年中国287个地级市面板数据,探讨环境“费改税”能否有效降低中国能源消耗。基准回归发现,环境“费改税”显著降低了中国能源消耗,提高了能源使用效率,实现了“资源节约型”社会。环境“费改税”表现出明显的异质性特征,显著降低了东部地区、老工业区和两控区的能源消耗,对中西部地区、非老工业区和非两控区的政策效应不显著。环境“费改税”通过增强城市研发创新投入、优化产业结构和强化税收征管,有效降低了中国能源消耗。本文通过一系列稳健性检验发现结论依旧成立。进一步拓展分析发现,环境“费改税”能有效降低污染物排放,同时有助于实现建成“环境友好型”社会。

Environment-friendly and Energy-saving are a good guarantee and power source of China's sustainable economic development.Coordinating the relationship between them is very important to building a"resource-saving"and"environment-friendly"society.This study uses panel data of 287 cities in 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2019 to explore whether the environmental"fee to tax"can effectively reduce energy consumption in China.Benchmark result finds that environment"fee to tax"can significantly reduce energy consumption,improve energy efficiency,and realize a"resource-conserving society".The environment"fee to tax"presents pronounced regional heterogeneity,significantly reducing energy consumption in the east area,the old industrial area and the acid rain and sulfur dioxide control zones area.However,the effect is not significant in the central and western areas,non-old industrial area and nonacid rain and sulfur dioxide control zones area.Environmental"fee to tax"can effectively reduce China's energy consumption by enhancing R&D and innovation investment,optimizing the industrial structure,and strengthening tax levying and management.The conclusion is still valid in a series of robustness tests.The article further finds that the environmental"fee to tax"can reduce pollutant emissions and helps achieve an"environmentally friendly"society.