IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecofin/v76y2025ics1062940825000075.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental tax reform and corporate tax avoidance: A quasi-natural experiment on China’s environmental protection tax law

Author

Listed:
  • Jing, Zhongbo
  • Zhang, Wei
  • Zhao, Pengcheng
  • Zhao, Yang

Abstract

The implementation of China’s Environmental Protection Tax Law (EPTL) in 2018 granted local governments the autonomy to adjust local environmental tax rates, raising concerns about potential unintended consequences. This study employs a time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) method to investigate the impact of the EPTL on corporate tax avoidance, utilizing data from China’s A-share listed polluting firms spanning from 2015 to 2021. The findings reveal the following: a) the EPTL substantially intensifies tax avoidance among polluting firms in regions with rising environmental tax rates. The policy’s impact is more significant in firms with pre-existing extensive tax avoidance practices and does not significantly influence innovation inputs and outputs; b) this effect is primarily driven by companies with higher operational risks, political connections, and greater market bargaining power; c) the boosting effect of this policy is influenced by regional features and company characteristics; d) the findings indicate that tax avoidance increases firm value, explaining the motivation behind corporate tax avoidance. This study provides pivotal empirical evidence for assessing the unintended consequences of the EPTL.

Suggested Citation

  • Jing, Zhongbo & Zhang, Wei & Zhao, Pengcheng & Zhao, Yang, 2025. "Environmental tax reform and corporate tax avoidance: A quasi-natural experiment on China’s environmental protection tax law," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecofin:v:76:y:2025:i:c:s1062940825000075
    DOI: 10.1016/j.najef.2025.102367
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1062940825000075
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.najef.2025.102367?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. Shadbegian, Ronald J. & Gray, Wayne B., 2005. "Pollution abatement expenditures and plant-level productivity: A production function approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2-3), pages 196-208, August.
    2. Li, Quan & Chen, Yang & Wan, Mengfei, 2023. "The impact of central environmental inspection on institutional ownership: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    3. Stefan Ambec & Lars Ehlers, 2016. "Regulation via the Polluter‐pays Principle," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(593), pages 884-906, June.
    4. Thorsten Beck & Ross Levine & Alexey Levkov, 2010. "Big Bad Banks? The Winners and Losers from Bank Deregulation in the United States," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(5), pages 1637-1667, October.
    5. James R Brown & Gustav Martinsson & Christian Thomann, 2022. "Can Environmental Policy Encourage Technical Change? Emissions Taxes and R&D Investment in Polluting Firms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(10), pages 4518-4560.
    6. Zhang, Jintao & Lei, Xinghui & Su, Taoyong & Tang, Li, 2022. "The effect of a list: How firms on key pollution supervisory list disclose environmental information?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    7. Shen, Yuxin & Xu, Hanwen & Yu, Shuangli & Xu, Wei & Shen, Yongjian, 2022. "Air pollution and tax avoidance: New evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 402-420.
    8. Michael Greenstone & John A. List & Chad Syverson, 2011. "The Effects of Environmental Regulation on the Competiveness of U.S. Manufacturing," Working Papers 11-03, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    9. Mihir A Desai & Dhammika Dharmapala, 2009. "Corporate Tax Avoidance and Firm Value," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(3), pages 537-546, August.
    10. Katz, Barbara G. & Owen, Joel, 2013. "Exploring tax evasion in the context of political uncertainty," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 141-154.
    11. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Blouin, Jennifer L. & Jagolinzer, Alan D. & Larcker, David F., 2015. "Corporate governance, incentives, and tax avoidance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 1-17.
    12. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Lobo, Gerald J. & Qiu, Buhui, 2021. "Organizational capital, corporate tax avoidance, and firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    13. 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).
    14. Peter Demerjian & Baruch Lev & Sarah McVay, 2012. "Quantifying Managerial Ability: A New Measure and Validity Tests," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(7), pages 1229-1248, July.
    15. Geng, Yong & Liu, Wei & Li, Kai & Chen, Hanshu, 2021. "Environmental regulation and corporate tax avoidance: A quasi-natural experiment based on the eleventh Five-Year Plan in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    16. 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.
    17. Preetika Joshi, 2020. "Does Private Country‐by‐Country Reporting Deter Tax Avoidance and Income Shifting? Evidence from BEPS Action Item 13," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 333-381, May.
    18. Peyer, Urs & Vermaelen, Theo, 2016. "Political affiliation and dividend tax avoidance: Evidence from the 2013 fiscal cliff," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 136-149.
    19. Yue Cao & Xinyu Hu & Yu Lu & Jun Su, 2020. "Customer Concentration, Tax Collection Intensity, and Corporate Tax Avoidance," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(11), pages 2563-2593, September.
    20. Hongbin Cai & Qiao Liu, 2009. "Competition and Corporate Tax Avoidance: Evidence from Chinese Industrial Firms," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(537), pages 764-795, April.
    21. Li, Jianjun & Wang, Xuan & Wu, Yaping, 2020. "Can government improve tax compliance by adopting advanced information technology? Evidence from the Golden Tax Project III in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 384-397.
    22. 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).
    23. Chen, Zhao & Kahn, Matthew E. & Liu, Yu & Wang, Zhi, 2018. "The consequences of spatially differentiated water pollution regulation in China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 468-485.
    24. Jinghua Wang & Ning Mao, 2021. "Customer and tax behaviour: how customer concentration affect suppliers’ tax avoidance," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 363-388, October.
    25. Horváthová, Eva, 2012. "The impact of environmental performance on firm performance: Short-term costs and long-term benefits?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 91-97.
    26. Cen, Ling & Maydew, Edward L. & Zhang, Liandong & Zuo, Luo, 2017. "Customer–supplier relationships and corporate tax avoidance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 377-394.
    27. Yuqiang Cao & Zhuoan Feng & Meiting Lu & Yaowen Shan, 2021. "Tax avoidance and firm risk: evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(3), pages 4967-5000, September.
    28. 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.
    29. Hanlon, Michelle & Heitzman, Shane, 2010. "A review of tax research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 127-178, December.
    30. Desai, Mihir A. & Dharmapala, Dhammika, 2006. "Corporate tax avoidance and high-powered incentives," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 145-179, January.
    31. Shuai Shao & Zhigao Hu & Jianhua Cao & Lili Yang & Dabo Guan, 2020. "Environmental Regulation and Enterprise Innovation: A Review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1465-1478, March.
    32. Leung, Sidney C.M. & Richardson, Grant & Taylor, Grantley, 2019. "The effect of the general anti-avoidance rule on corporate tax avoidance in China," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 105-117.
    33. Compagnie, Vincent & Struyfs, Kristof & Torsin, Wouter, 2023. "Tax avoidance as an unintended consequence of environmental regulation: Evidence from the EU ETS," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    34. Liao, Tianlong & Liu, Guanchun & Liu, Yuanyuan & Lu, Rui, 2023. "Environmental regulation and corporate employment revisited: New quasi-natural experimental evidence from China's new environmental protection law," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    35. Ruixue Jia & Huihua Nie, 2017. "Decentralization, Collusion, and Coal Mine Deaths," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 99(1), pages 105-118, March.
    36. 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).
    37. Yue Cao & Xinyu Hu & Yu Lu & Jun Su, 2020. "Customer Concentration, Tax Collection Intensity, and Corporate Tax Avoidance," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(11), pages 2563-2593, September.
    38. Jianjun Zhang & Christopher Marquis & Kunyuan Qiao, 2016. "Do Political Connections Buffer Firms from or Bind Firms to the Government? A Study of Corporate Charitable Donations of Chinese Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 1307-1324, October.
    39. Yu Shen & Di Gao & Di Bu & Lina Yan & Ping Chen, 2019. "CEO hometown ties and tax avoidance‐evidence from China's listed firms," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(5), pages 1549-1580, March.
    40. Bradshaw, Mark & Liao, Guanmin & Ma, Mark (Shuai), 2019. "Agency costs and tax planning when the government is a major Shareholder," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 255-277.
    41. Shi, Xinzheng & Xu, Zhufeng, 2018. "Environmental regulation and firm exports: Evidence from the eleventh Five-Year Plan in China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 187-200.
    42. Tao Chen & Youchao Tan & Jinghua Wang & Cheng (Colin) Zeng, 2022. "The Unintended Consequence of Land Finance: Evidence from Corporate Tax Avoidance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(11), pages 8319-8342, November.
    43. Tang, Wenliang & Yang, Mian & Duan, Hongbo, 2023. "Temperature and corporate tax avoidance: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    44. Chan, K. Hung & Lin, Kenny Z. & Mo, Phyllis L.L., 2010. "Will a departure from tax-based accounting encourage tax noncompliance? Archival evidence from a transition economy," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 58-73, May.
    45. Dinda, Soumyananda, 2004. "Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 431-455, August.
    46. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Blouin, Jennifer L. & Jagolinzer, Alan D. & Larcker, David F., 2015. "Corporate Governance, Incentives, and Tax Avoidance," Research Papers 2134, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    47. Luan, Bingjiang & Zou, Hong & Chen, Shuxing & Huang, Junbing, 2021. "The effect of industrial structure adjustment on China’s energy intensity: Evidence from linear and nonlinear analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    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. Wang, Wei & Wang, Hua & Wu, Ji (George), 2021. "Mixed ownership reform and corporate tax avoidance: Evidence of Chinese listed firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    2. Shen, Yuxin & Xu, Hanwen & Yu, Shuangli & Xu, Wei & Shen, Yongjian, 2022. "Air pollution and tax avoidance: New evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 402-420.
    3. Kovermann, Jost & Velte, Patrick, 2019. "The impact of corporate governance on corporate tax avoidance—A literature review," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Feng Huang & Jie Gao, 2022. "Customer and Tax Avoidance: How Does Customer Geographic Proximity Affect a Supplier’s Tax Avoidance?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-30, November.
    5. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Lobo, Gerald J. & Qiu, Buhui, 2021. "Organizational capital, corporate tax avoidance, and firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    6. Ma, Chunguang & Feng, Shunfei & Huang, Wenhui & Chen, Aoyun, 2025. "Political corruption and corporate tax avoidance: A quasi-natural experiment," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    7. Guangyong Lei & Wanwan Wang & Junli Yu & Kam C. Chan, 2022. "Cultural Diversity and Corporate Tax Avoidance: Evidence from Chinese Private Enterprises," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(2), pages 357-379, March.
    8. 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).
    9. Yaohua Qin & He Xiao, 2025. "Air pollution and corporate tax avoidance," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 64(1), pages 475-503, January.
    10. Geng, Yong & Liu, Wei & Li, Kai & Chen, Hanshu, 2021. "Environmental regulation and corporate tax avoidance: A quasi-natural experiment based on the eleventh Five-Year Plan in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    11. Wang, Changrong & Richardson, Grant & Cao, Yanming, 2024. "Long live the walking dead? Corporate tax avoidance and zombie firms in China," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(3).
    12. De Simone, Lisa & Klassen, Kenneth J. & Seidman, Jeri K., 2022. "The effect of income-shifting aggressiveness on corporate investment," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1).
    13. DeFond, Mark & Qi, Baolei & Si, Yi & Zhang, Jieying, 2025. "Do signatory auditors with tax expertise facilitate or curb tax aggressiveness?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(1).
    14. Fangjun Wang & Shuolei Xu & Junqin Sun & Charles P. Cullinan, 2020. "Corporate Tax Avoidance: A Literature Review And Research Agenda," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 793-811, September.
    15. Chan, K. Hung & He, Miao & Mo, Phyllis Lai Lan & Zhang, Weiyin, 2024. "Long-term tax strategy and corporate acquisition payment structure: An analysis based on the book-tax tradeoff theory," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3).
    16. Yong Geng & Wei Liu & Hanshu Chen & Xinyu Zou, 2023. "The Spillover Effects of Environmental Regulations: A Perspective of Chinese Unregulated Firms' Tax Burden," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 31(2), pages 84-111, March.
    17. Panagiotis Karavitis & Pantelis Kazakis & Tianyue Xu, 2022. "CFO Working Experience and Tax Avoidance," Working Papers 2022_14, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    18. Kim, Tae-Nyun & Lee, Pil-Seng, 2023. "Product market threats and tax avoidance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    19. Yukun Pan & Lin Liao & Daifei Yao & Joseph H. Zhang, 2024. "Board Chairs’ Early-Life Experience and Tax Avoidance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 192(4), pages 897-917, July.
    20. Wen, Wen & Cui, Huijie & Ke, Yun, 2020. "Directors with foreign experience and corporate tax avoidance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental regulation; Environmental Protection Tax Law; Corporate tax avoidance; Time-varying difference-in-differences method;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

    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:ecofin:v:76:y:2025:i:c:s1062940825000075. 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/inca/620163 .

    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.