IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i9p5312-d804256.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental “Fee-to-Tax” and Heavy Pollution Enterprises to De-Capacity

Author

Listed:
  • Li Ji

    (School of Accounting, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 611130, China)

  • Tian Zeng

    (School of Accounting, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 611130, China)

Abstract

Will environmental “fee-to-tax”, which strengthens the rigidity of levies and increases the environmental costs of heavy pollution enterprises, force heavy pollution enterprises to de-capacity. This paper examines the impact and heterogeneity of the environmental “fee-to-tax” on heavy pollution enterprises’ de-capacity by taking the official implementation of the Environmental Protection Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China in 2018 as the institutional impact and the listed industrial enterprises in Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares from 2015 to 2019 as the sample. The study found that environmental “fee-to-tax” pushed heavy pollution enterprises to de-capacity. After parallel trend tests, placebo tests, eliminate policy interference, propensity score matching, and replacement variables, the findings of this paper are robust. Further analysis shows that the effect of environmental “fee-to-tax” on heavy pollution enterprises’ de-capacity is more significant in state-owned enterprises, high financing constraints enterprises, and areas with higher tax collection and management; this effect is still effective and more significant in areas with low economic development because all environmental tax revenues are included in local finance. This paper follows up and tests the implementation effect of environmental regulations in China and provides a valuable reference for the government to promote the task of de-capacity and green transformation and upgrading of industrial structure through actively playing the role of environmental protection.

Suggested Citation

  • Li Ji & Tian Zeng, 2022. "Environmental “Fee-to-Tax” and Heavy Pollution Enterprises to De-Capacity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-24, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5312-:d:804256
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/5312/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/5312/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Spence, 1976. "Product Selection, Fixed Costs, and Monopolistic Competition," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 43(2), pages 217-235.
    2. Yuan, Jiahai & Li, Peng & Wang, Yang & Liu, Qian & Shen, Xinyi & Zhang, Kai & Dong, Liansai, 2016. "Coal power overcapacity and investment bubble in China during 2015–2020," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 136-144.
    3. Zhao, Aiwu & Wang, Jingyi & Sun, Zhenzhen & Guan, Hongjun, 2022. "Environmental taxes, technology innovation quality and firm performance in China—A test of effects based on the Porter hypothesis," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 309-325.
    4. Lu, Juan & Li, He, 2022. "Can high-speed rail improve enterprise capacity utilization? A perspective of supply side and demand side," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 152-163.
    5. 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).
    6. Shi, Xunpeng & Rioux, Bertrand & Galkin, Philipp, 2018. "Unintended consequences of China’s coal capacity cut policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 478-486.
    7. Zhang, Weike & Luo, Qian & Liu, Shiyuan, 2022. "Is government regulation a push for corporate environmental performance? Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 105-121.
    8. Zhang, Yanfang & Zhang, Ming & Liu, Yue & Nie, Rui, 2017. "Enterprise investment, local government intervention and coal overcapacity: The case of China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 162-169.
    9. Belke, Ansgar & Oeking, Anne & Setzer, Ralph, 2015. "Domestic demand, capacity constraints and exporting dynamics: Empirical evidence for vulnerable euro area countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 315-325.
    10. Karmaker, Shamal Chandra & Hosan, Shahadat & Chapman, Andrew J. & Saha, Bidyut Baran, 2021. "The role of environmental taxes on technological innovation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    11. Zhang, Jinzhu & Liu, Yu & Zhou, Meifang & Chen, Boyang & Liu, Yawen & Cheng, Baodong & Xue, Jinjun & Zhang, Wei, 2022. "Regulatory effect of improving environmental information disclosure under environmental tax in China: From the perspectives of temporal and industrial heterogeneity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    12. Wu, Tao & Zhang, Li-Guo & Ge, Teng, 2019. "Managing financing risk in capacity investment under green supply chain competition," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 37-44.
    13. Shen, Guangjun & Chen, Binkai, 2017. "Zombie firms and over-capacity in Chinese manufacturing," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 327-342.
    14. Zhu, Qinghua & Liu, Junjun & Lai, Kee-hung, 2016. "Corporate social responsibility practices and performance improvement among Chinese national state-owned enterprises," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(P3), pages 417-426.
    15. Wang, Zhan-ao & Zheng, Chengsi, 2022. "Is technological innovation the cure for overcapacity? Exploring mediating and moderating mechanisms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 348-361.
    16. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    17. Yamazaki, Akio, 2022. "Environmental taxes and productivity: Lessons from Canadian manufacturing," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    18. Huan Chen & Tingyong Zhong & Jeoung Yul Lee, 2020. "Capacity Reduction Pressure, Financing Constraints, and Enterprise Sustainable Innovation Investment: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-16, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Jun Liu & Yu Qian & Huihong Chang & Jeffrey Yi-Lin Forrest, 2022. "The Impact of Technology Innovation on Enterprise Capacity Utilization—Evidence from China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-17, September.
    2. Wang, Yadong & Wang, Delu & Shi, Xunpeng, 2021. "Exploring the dilemma of overcapacity governance in China's coal industry: A tripartite evolutionary game model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    3. Zhang, Weike & Meng, Jia & Tian, Xiaoli, 2020. "Does de-capacity policy enhance the total factor productivity of China's coal companies? A Regression Discontinuity design," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    4. Wang, Delu & Liu, Yifei & Wang, Yadong & Shi, Xunpeng & Song, Xuefeng, 2020. "Allocation of coal de-capacity quota among provinces in China: A bi-level multi-objective combinatorial optimization approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    5. Xu, Jiuping & Shu, Kejing & Wang, Fengjuan & Yang, Guocan, 2024. "Bi-level multi-objective distribution strategy integrating the permit trading scheme towards coal production capacity layout optimization: Case study from China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. Wang, Di & Shen, Ye & Zhao, Yueying & He, Wei & Liu, Xue & Qian, Xiangyan & Lv, Tao, 2020. "Integrated assessment and obstacle factor diagnosis of China's scientific coal production capacity based on the PSR sustainability framework," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    7. Liu, Dandan & Wang, Delu & Mao, Jinqi, 2023. "Study on policy synergy strategy of the central government and local governments in the process of coal de-capacity: Based on a two-stage evolutionary game method," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    8. Yu, Shiwei & Lu, Tingwei & Hu, Xing & Liu, Lancui & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2021. "Determinants of overcapacity in China’s renewable energy industry: Evidence from wind, photovoltaic, and biomass energy enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    9. Yihao Tian & Lijin Ding & Bin Yang & Feng Peng, 2022. "The Effects of De-Capacity Policy on Steel and Coal Firms’ Profitability: Evidence from China’s Listed Companies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-17, June.
    10. Wang, Yadong & Wang, Delu & Shi, Xunpeng, 2022. "Exploring the multidimensional effects of China's coal de-capacity policy: A regression discontinuity design," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    11. Lu, Juan & Li, He, 2022. "Can high-speed rail improve enterprise capacity utilization? A perspective of supply side and demand side," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 152-163.
    12. Wang, Hai & Ye, Shuai & Chen, Hui & Yin, Junya, 2023. "The impact of carbon emission trading policy on overcapacity of companies: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    13. Wang, Hua & Liao, Lingtao & Wu, Ji (George), 2023. "Robot adoption and firm's capacity utilization: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    14. Wang, Delu & Wan, Kaidi & Song, Xuefeng & Liu, Yun, 2019. "Provincial allocation of coal de-capacity targets in China in terms of cost, efficiency, and fairness," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 109-128.
    15. Ma, Gang & Li, Xu & Zheng, Jianping, 2020. "Efficiency and equity in regional coal de-capacity allocation in China: A multiple objective programming model based on Gini coefficient and Data Envelopment Analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    16. Cheng, Bo & Christensen, Tom & Ma, Liang & Yu, Junli, 2021. "Does public money drive out private? Evidence from government regulations of industrial overcapacity governance in urban China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 767-780.
    17. Yuegang Song & Songlin Jin & Zhenhui Li, 2022. "Venture Capital and Chinese Firms’ Technological Innovation Capability: Effective Evaluation and Mechanism Verification," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-20, August.
    18. Chen, Zhenling & Zhang, Xiaoling & Ni, Guohua, 2020. "Decomposing capacity utilization under carbon dioxide emissions reduction constraints in data envelopment analysis: An application to Chinese regions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    19. Yang, Qing & Zhang, Lei & Zhang, Jinsuo & Zou, Shaohui, 2021. "System simulation and policy optimization of China's coal production capacity deviation in terms of the economy, environment, and energy security," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    20. Wang, Weilong & Xiao, Deheng & Wang, Jianlong & Wu, Haitao, 2024. "The cost of pollution in the digital era: Impediments of air pollution on enterprise digital transformation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).

    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:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5312-:d:804256. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.