Green Taxes: The Productivity Effects of Tax-Based Environmental Regulations on Heavily Polluting Firms

Using data from both Chinese listed firms over the period 2013 and 2019 and China’s Environmental Protection Tax (EPT) Law as a quasi-natural experiment, we find that EPT law can increase the productivity of heavily polluting firms by fostering higher R&D investment and substituting labor with capital. The positive effect is more pronounced for state-owned enterprises, large businesses, firms facing fewer financial constraints, those receiving more government subsidies, and in less competitive industries. Our results also indicate that the improved firm productivity enhances the financial performance. Overall, our study highlights the importance of tax-based environmental regulations in promoting productivity and contributing to overall economic growth and provides insights for the evolving environmental policy discourse.

本研究以2013至2019年中国上市公司数据及《环境保护税法》（Environmental Protection Tax Law, EPT）为准自然实验场景，研究发现，环境保护税法可通过激励企业加大研发投入、以资本替代劳动的路径，提升重污染企业的生产效率。该正向促进效应在国有企业、大型企业、融资约束更低的企业、获得更多政府补贴的企业以及竞争程度较弱的行业中更为显著。研究结果同时表明，企业生产效率的提升能够改善其财务绩效。综上，本研究凸显了基于税收的环境规制在提升生产效率、推动整体经济增长中的重要作用，并为持续演进的环境政策讨论提供了有益的参考视角。