IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v113y2022ics0140988322003917.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The influence of environmental protection tax law on total factor productivity: Evidence from listed firms in China

Author

Listed:
  • He, Yu
  • Zhu, Xiaobo
  • Zheng, Huan

Abstract

The Environmental Protection Tax Law (EPTL) is one of the major environmental policies announced by Chinese authorities in recent years. It aims to push corporate firms to boost their production efficiency, reduce pollutant emissions, and promote sustainable growth nationwide. Nonetheless, its impact on firms' total factor productivity (TFP) has yet to be studied. Therefore, we adopt a difference-in-differences approach to explore whether this policy improves firms' TFP, based on a sample of all A-shares from 2015 to 2020. We divide sample firms into heavy polluters and others and demonstrate that the EPTL promotes heavy polluters' TFP. This empirical result holds after various robustness tests. We also conduct a series of additional tests to explore how this policy affect firms' TFP under different situations: a) the dynamic effect analysis shows that the EPTL's TFP-promoting effect will increase over time; b) the quantile analysis reveals that the EPTL has a stronger promoting effect on firms with lower rather than higher TFP levels; c) the threshold effect analysis shows that the TFP-promoting effect of the EPTL increases exponentially after threshold values for research and development investment, government subsidies, and firm profitability are exceeded; and d) the difference-in-differences-in-differences approaches reveal that the EPTL has a worse impact on firms with political connections and those located in provinces where EPTL tax rates increased relative to those in preceding legislation. These findings suggest that the Chinese government should adhere to implementing this policy in the long term and encourage firms to increase their research and development investments. In addition, it should provide special aid to mitigate the EPTL's negative impact on politically connected firms and firms located in province where tax rates increased.

Suggested Citation

  • He, Yu & Zhu, Xiaobo & Zheng, Huan, 2022. "The influence of environmental protection tax law on total factor productivity: Evidence from listed firms in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:113:y:2022:i:c:s0140988322003917
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2022.106248
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988322003917
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2022.106248?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul Lanoie & Michel Patry & Richard Lajeunesse, 2008. "Environmental regulation and productivity: testing the porter hypothesis," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 121-128, October.
    2. Wu, Qingyang & Wang, Yanying, 2022. "How does carbon emission price stimulate enterprises' total factor productivity? Insights from China's emission trading scheme pilots," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    3. Sergio Firpo, 2007. "Efficient Semiparametric Estimation of Quantile Treatment Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(1), pages 259-276, January.
    4. Jiayu Wang & Ke Wang & Xunpeng Shi & Yi-Ming Wei, 2019. "Spatial heterogeneity and driving forces of environmental productivity growth in China: Would it help to switch pollutant discharge fees to environmental taxes?," CEEP-BIT Working Papers 123, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEP), Beijing Institute of Technology.
    5. Fan, Joseph P.H. & Wong, T.J. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2007. "Politically connected CEOs, corporate governance, and Post-IPO performance of China's newly partially privatized firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 330-357, May.
    6. Rubashkina, Yana & Galeotti, Marzio & Verdolini, Elena, 2015. "Environmental regulation and competitiveness: Empirical evidence on the Porter Hypothesis from European manufacturing sectors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 288-300.
    7. Gray, Wayne B. & Shadbegian, Ronald J., 2003. "Plant vintage, technology, and environmental regulation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 384-402, November.
    8. Song, Malin & Peng, Licheng & Shang, Yuping & Zhao, Xin, 2022. "Green technology progress and total factor productivity of resource-based enterprises: A perspective of technical compensation of environmental regulation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    9. Yang, Chih-Hai & Tseng, Yu-Hsuan & Chen, Chiang-Ping, 2012. "Environmental regulations, induced R&D, and productivity: Evidence from Taiwan's manufacturing industries," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 514-532.
    10. Adam B. Jaffe et al., 1995. "Environmental Regulation and the Competitiveness of U.S. Manufacturing: What Does the Evidence Tell Us?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(1), pages 132-163, March.
    11. Wang, Yan & Shen, Neng, 2016. "Environmental regulation and environmental productivity: The case of China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 758-766.
    12. Ahmed Al‐Hadi & Bikram Chatterjee & Ali Yaftian & Grantley Taylor & Mostafa Monzur Hasan, 2019. "Corporate social responsibility performance, financial distress and firm life cycle: evidence from Australia," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 59(2), pages 961-989, June.
    13. Peng, Jiaying & Xie, Rui & Ma, Chunbo & Fu, Yang, 2021. "Market-based environmental regulation and total factor productivity: Evidence from Chinese enterprises," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 394-407.
    14. Zhang, Yijun & Li, Xiaoping & Song, Yi & Jiang, Feitao, 2021. "Can green industrial policy improve total factor productivity? Firm-level evidence from China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 51-62.
    15. Brantly Callaway & Tong Li, 2019. "Quantile treatment effects in difference in differences models with panel data," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 10(4), pages 1579-1618, November.
    16. Hongshan Ai & Shenglan Hu & Ke Li & Shuai Shao, 2020. "Environmental regulation, total factor productivity, and enterprise duration: Evidence from China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2284-2296, September.
    17. Chen, Shimin & Sun, Zheng & Tang, Song & Wu, Donghui, 2011. "Government intervention and investment efficiency: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 259-271, April.
    18. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-1297, November.
    19. Ebru Alpay & Joe Kerkvliet & Steven Buccola, 2002. "Productivity Growth and Environmental Regulation in Mexican and U.S. Food Manufacturing," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 84(4), pages 887-901.
    20. Xiao, Bowen & Fan, Ying & Guo, Xiaodan & Xiang, Lin, 2022. "Re-evaluating environmental tax: An intergenerational perspective on health, education and retirement," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    21. Pargal, Sheoli & Wheeler, David, 1996. "Informal Regulation of Industrial Pollution in Developing Countries: Evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1314-1327, December.
    22. Liu, Guangqiang & Yang, Zhiqing & Zhang, Fan & Zhang, Nan, 2022. "Environmental tax reform and environmental investment: A quasi-natural experiment based on China's Environmental Protection Tax Law," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    23. Zheng, Xuemei & Wu, Chengkuan & Nepal, Rabindra, 2022. "Did the administrative approval reform in China affect the productivity of energy firms? – A quasi-natural experimental approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    24. Koh, SzeKee & Durand, Robert B. & Dai, Lele & Chang, Millicent, 2015. "Financial distress: Lifecycle and corporate restructuring," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 19-33.
    25. Pengsheng Li & Yanying Chen, 2019. "The Influence of Enterprises’ Bargaining Power on the Green Total Factor Productivity Effect of Environmental Regulation—Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-20, September.
    26. Hamamoto, Mitsutsugu, 2006. "Environmental regulation and the productivity of Japanese manufacturing industries," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 299-312, November.
    27. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    28. Michael E. Porter & Claas van der Linde, 1995. "Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 97-118, Fall.
    29. Yu He & Chuanhao Wen & Jia He, 2020. "The influence of China Environmental Protection Tax Law on firm performance – evidence from stock markets," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(13), pages 1044-1047, June.
    30. Barbera, Anthony J. & McConnell, Virginia D., 1990. "The impact of environmental regulations on industry productivity: Direct and indirect effects," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 50-65, January.
    31. Xiaobing Huang & Xiaolian Liu, 2019. "The Impact of Environmental Regulation on Productivity and Exports: A Firm-Level Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(11), pages 2589-2608, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nie, Song & Ji, Qiang, 2024. "“Good medicine is bitter” or “drinking poison to quench thirst”? The impact of maturity mismatch on corporate ESG performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PA).
    2. Claudiu Tiberiu Albulescu, 2023. "Total factor productivity and tax avoidance: An asymmetric micro-data analysis for European oil and gas companies," Working Papers hal-04163245, HAL.
    3. He, Yu & Zhao, Xiaoling & Zheng, Huan, 2023. "How does the environmental protection tax law affect firm ESG? Evidence from the Chinese stock markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PA).
    4. Zhao, Yunhai & Liu, Rui & Xue, Junyi & Wu, Qihe & Zhang, Xiaohua, 2024. "Environmental protection tax law and corporate financial fraud: Evidence from listed firms in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    5. Wang, Shanyong & Xu, Baolong, 2024. "Environmental protection tax policy and corporate risk-taking: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    6. Hameed, Touseef & Alemayehu, Fikru Kefyalew & Kumbhakar, Subal C., 2024. "Green innovation in Norwegian firms: Navigating the complexity of productivity and performance," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    7. Lu, Shuling & Yang, Qijing, 2024. "Price of going green: The employment effects of the environmental protection tax in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    8. Ke Mao & Pierre Failler, 2022. "Does Stronger Protection of Intellectual Property Improve Sustainable Development? Evidence from City Data in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-15, November.
    9. Xue, Han, 2024. "Towards sustainable development: Unveiling the impact of digital government on urban low-carbon development from a resource curse perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    10. Sun, Jianhua & Hou, Shaobo & Deng, Yuxia & Li, Huaicheng, 2024. "New media environment, green technological innovation and corporate productivity: Evidence from listed companies in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    11. Zhang, Kai & Zhou, Yuehui, 2023. "The Communist Party of China embeddedness in corporate governance and total factor productivity: Evidence from private firms in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PC).
    12. Libin Han & Chong Peng, 2022. "Do the Age and Gender of Chairperson Affect Firms’ Environmental Protection Investment?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-12, November.
    13. Yu, Lianchao & Liu, Donghui & Liu, Qiang & Han, Hongling, 2025. "De-localization of environmental governance and corporate innovation structure: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA).
    14. Duan, Dingyun & Chen, Shaojian & Feng, Zongxian & Li, Jun, 2023. "Industrial robots and firm productivity," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 388-406.
    15. Du, Qunyang & Xue, Mengzhe & Li, Zhongyuan & Min Du, Anna & Yang, Tianle, 2024. "Economic vulnerabilities and sustainability in energy utilities: Managing climate change in the face of geopolitical turmoil," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    16. Wuxin Zhang & Haiying Pan, 2024. "Pursuing Cleaner Skies: A Study on the Impact of China’s Environmental Protection Tax Law on Haze Pollution," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-23, December.
    17. Lingxiao Zhao & Yunpeng Tang & Yan Liu, 2023. "How Does Environmental Tax Influence the Scale and Efficiency of Green Investment among China’s Heavily Polluting Enterprises?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-26, October.
    18. Lin, Feiteng & Cao, Anqi & Chen, Wenqiang, 2024. "Does the environmental tax affect the within-firm pay gap? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    19. Li, Jianglong & Gao, Jinfeng & Liao, Meiling, 2024. "Operating risk of enterprises when adopting environmental regulation: Evidence from environmental protection law in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 901-914.
    20. Manru Peng & Chendie Wei & Youliang Jin & Hangxin Ran, 2023. "Does the Environmental Tax Reform Positively Impact Corporate Environmental Performance?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, May.
    21. Deng, Youyi & Dong, Kangyin & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Xue, Jinjun, 2023. "How does environmental regulation affect the double dividend for energy firms? Evidence from China’s EPT policy," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 807-820.
    22. Xin Jiang & Guanglong Li & Xianxian Fan, 2023. "Environmental Protection Fee-to-Tax and Corporate Environmental Social Responsibility: A Test Based on Corporate Life Cycle Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-21, January.
    23. Wang, Chao & Zhang, Yue-Jun, 2024. "Does environmental investment improve corporate productivity? Evidence from Chinese listed firms," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 398-409.
    24. Chen, Yifu & Wang, Liang & Ye, Yongwei & Tao, Yunqing, 2023. "Digital M&A and firm productivity in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PA).
    25. Gao, Peng & He, Ling & Hu, Shiyang & Xin, Qingquan, 2024. "Double-edged sword: Does strong creditor protection in the bankruptcy process affect firm productivity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guo, Shu & Zhang, ZhongXiang, 2023. "Green credit policy and total factor productivity: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    2. Lena, Daniela & Pasurka, Carl A. & Cucculelli, Marco, 2022. "Environmental regulation and green productivity growth: Evidence from Italian manufacturing industries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    3. Peng, Jiaying & Xie, Rui & Ma, Chunbo & Fu, Yang, 2021. "Market-based environmental regulation and total factor productivity: Evidence from Chinese enterprises," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 394-407.
    4. Xie, Rong-hui & Yuan, Yi-jun & Huang, Jing-jing, 2017. "Different Types of Environmental Regulations and Heterogeneous Influence on “Green” Productivity: Evidence from China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 104-112.
    5. Albrizio, Silvia & Kozluk, Tomasz & Zipperer, Vera, 2017. "Environmental policies and productivity growth: Evidence across industries and firms," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 209-226.
    6. Erik Hille & Patrick Möbius, 2019. "Environmental Policy, Innovation, and Productivity Growth: Controlling the Effects of Regulation and Endogeneity," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 73(4), pages 1315-1355, August.
    7. Ren, Shenggang & Yang, Xuanyu & Hu, Yucai & Chevallier, Julien, 2022. "Emission trading, induced innovation and firm performance," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    8. Antonietti, Roberto & Marzucchi, Alberto, 2014. "Green tangible investment strategies and export performance: A firm-level investigation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 150-161.
    9. Roberto Antonietti & Alberto Marzucchi, 2013. "Green Investment Strategies and Export Performance: A Firm-level Investigation," Working Papers 2013.76, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    10. Siedschlag, Iulia & Yan, Weijie, 2023. "Do green investments improve firm performance? Empirical evidence from Ireland," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PB).
    11. Sangeeta Bansal & Massimo Filippini & Suchita Srinivasan, 2023. "How Regulation Might Fail to Reduce Energy Consumption While Still Stimulating Total Factor Productivity Growth," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 23/379, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    12. Yang, Chih-Hai & Tseng, Yu-Hsuan & Chen, Chiang-Ping, 2012. "Environmental regulations, induced R&D, and productivity: Evidence from Taiwan's manufacturing industries," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 514-532.
    13. Rubashkina, Yana & Galeotti, Marzio & Verdolini, Elena, 2015. "Environmental regulation and competitiveness: Empirical evidence on the Porter Hypothesis from European manufacturing sectors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 288-300.
    14. Liu, Shasha & Yin, Shanshan & Yin, Chuan & Sheng, Yan, 2021. "Does the price of natural resources affect firms’ total factor productivity? Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 37-50.
    15. Mian Yang & Yining Yuan & Fuxia Yang & Dalia Patino-Echeverri, 2021. "Effects of environmental regulation on firm entry and exit and China’s industrial productivity: a new perspective on the Porter Hypothesis," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(4), pages 915-944, October.
    16. Du, Minzhe & Liu, Yunxiao & Wang, Bing & Lee, Myunghun & Zhang, Ning, 2021. "The sources of regulated productivity in Chinese power plants: An estimation of the restricted cost function combined with DEA approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    17. He, Wenjian & Chen, Xiaoyang & Liu, Zhiyong John, 2022. "Can anti-corruption help realize the “strong” Porter Hypothesis in China? Evidence from Chinese manufacturing enterprises," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    18. Lu, Yunguo & Zhang, Lin, 2022. "National mitigation policy and the competitiveness of Chinese firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    19. Wang, Yan & Shen, Neng, 2016. "Environmental regulation and environmental productivity: The case of China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 758-766.
    20. Yi Li & Lili Ding & Yongliang Yang, 2020. "Can the Introduction of an Environmental Target Assessment Policy Improve the TFP of Textile Enterprises? A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on the Huai River Basin in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-19, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental protection tax law; Total factor productivity; Difference-in-differences; Chinese stock markets; Porter hypothesis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • O44 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Environment and Growth
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:113:y:2022:i:c:s0140988322003917. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.