水资源费改税对重污染企业绿色创新行为的影响研究

Study on the Impact of the Transformation from Water Fee to Tax on Green Innovation Behavior of Heavy Polluting Enterprises

随着经济的快速发展和工业化进程的加速,水资源的紧缺和污染问题日益突出,严重制约了环境保护和可持续发展。为了促进水资源的合理利用和环境保护,我国自2016年开始,率先在河北省实行水资源税试点,随后在2017年又将试点范围扩大至9个省、自治区、直辖市。水资源费改税试点的实施,对于重污染企业的环保转型和绿色创新行为具有重要的促进作用。基于2014—2021年中国上市重污染企业的面板数据,采用倾向得分匹配法、双重差分模型和中介效应模型实证检验水资源费改税政策对试点地区重污染企业绿色创新行为的影响及作用机制。实证结论显示:水资源费改税对试点地区重污染企业绿色创新具有显著促进作用,且研发投入在其中发挥了有效的中介作用。异质性分析表明:实施水资源费改税更有助于促进重污染企业发明型专利数量的提升,对于国有、高市场化地区和高耗水行业的重污染企业,水资源费改税的绿色创新促进作用更加显著。从加快推进水资源费改税政策在全国范围内的推行,加快推进市场化建设,完善其他环境规制政策,加大研发投入等方面提出水资源税费改革和企业绿色发展的对策建议。

With the rapid economic growth and accelerated industrialization process,the issues of water scarcity and pollution have become increasingly prominent in China,severely constraining the country’s environmental protection and sustainable development efforts.In order to promote the rational utilization of water resources and environmental protection,China initiated a pilot program for water tax in Hebei Province in 2016,subsequently expanding the pilot program to nine provinces and cities in 2017.The implementation of the pilot program for the transformation of water fee to tax has played a crucial role in promoting the environmental transformation and green innovation behaviors of heavy polluting enterprises.Based on panel data of Chinese listed heavy polluting enterprises from 2014 to 2021,this study uses propensity score matching,difference-in-differences models,and mediation models to empirically test the impact and mechanism of the water fee to tax reform policy on green innovation behavior of heavy polluting enterprises in pilot regions.Empirical conclusions show that the conversion from water fee to tax has a significant promoting effect on green innovation of heavy polluting enterprises in pilot areas,and R&D investment plays an effective mediating role in it.Heterogeneity analysis shows that the conversion from water fee to tax is more conducive to promoting the increase of invention patents in heavy polluting enterprises,especially for state-owned enterprises,highly market-oriented regions,and water-intensive industries.This study proposes policy suggestions for water tax reform and enterprise green development,including accelerating the promotion of water fee to tax reform policy nationwide,accelerating market-oriented construction,improving other environmental regulatory policies,and increasing R&D investment.