School of Economics, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, China.
School of Economics and Management, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing, China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2024 Feb;31(6):9371-9391. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-31736-6. Epub 2024 Jan 8.
The introduction of an environmental protection tax enables a smooth shift from the sewerage charge system to the environmental protection tax scheme. This, in turn, promotes a more sustainable development of enterprise growth, emphasizing eco-friendliness. This is of immense importance in advancing environmentally aware practices and sustainability. Based on data collected from A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2014 to 2021, this paper investigates the influence of environmental protection taxes on the advancement of green technology and the underlying mechanisms. Taking the execution of the Environmental Protection Tax Law in 2018 as a quasi-natural experiment, a double-difference model is employed to examine the causal relationship between environmental protection taxes and the adoption of green technology by companies. The findings indicate that the introduction of an environmental tax could markedly enhance the extent of green technological innovation within corporations. The evidence arising from the testing mechanism implies that such a tax can encourage firms to boost their investments in research and development, upgrade their innovative human capital, and mitigate financing limitations. The study found that there is heterogeneity in the promotion effect of the environmental protection tax on the green technological innovation of businesses in different regions and provinces with varying tax burdens and types of equity capital. Further research shows that the environmental protection tax has a greater impact on the promotion of utility model patent applications for green technology innovation. This paper presents empirical evidence to support further enhancement of the environmental protection tax system. It recommends designing the environmental protection tax policy with consideration for enterprises and local conditions and bolstering the system's capacity for guiding and stimulating enterprises' green development.
引入环境保护税可以顺利地将污水处理费制度转变为环境保护税制度。这反过来又促进了企业增长的更可持续发展，强调了生态友好性。这对于推进环保实践和可持续发展至关重要。本文基于 2014 年至 2021 年上海和深圳 A 股上市公司的数据，研究了环境保护税对绿色技术进步的影响及其作用机制。本文以 2018 年《环境保护税法》的执行为准自然实验，采用双重差分模型检验了环境保护税与公司采用绿色技术之间的因果关系。研究结果表明，环境保护税的引入可以显著提高企业绿色技术创新的程度。检验机制的证据表明，这种税收可以鼓励企业增加研发投入、升级创新人力资本，并减轻融资限制。研究发现，在不同地区和省份，环境保护税对企业绿色技术创新的促进效果存在异质性，这些地区的税收负担和股本类型不同。进一步的研究表明，环境保护税对绿色技术创新的实用新型专利申请的推广具有更大的影响。本文提供了支持进一步完善环境保护税制度的经验证据。建议在制定环境保护税政策时考虑企业和地方的实际情况，增强该制度引导和激励企业绿色发展的能力。
