IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v130y2024ics0140988324000306.html

Natural disasters and corporate tax burden: Evidence from chinese energy sector

Author

Listed:
  • Pan, Changchun
  • Huang, Yuzhe
  • Jin, Long

Abstract

Given the importance of energy company in disaster reconstruction and economic stability, we focus on the intrinsic link between natural disasters and energy corporate tax burden. This study examines the impact of natural disasters on the energy corporate tax burden using panel data for listed energy companies in China from 2003 to 2021. We robustly find that the higher the number of natural disasters in an energy company's region, the lower the corporate tax burden. The mechanism analysis suggests that the government, motivated by concerns that energy companies are in business distress and facing financing difficulties, is the mechanism by which natural disasters lead to lower energy corporate tax burdens. In addition, the above effects are more pronounced among energy companies that are larger, have a higher market share, and are subject to stronger government intervention. We provide theoretical basis and data support for post-disaster reconstruction and economic stability.

Suggested Citation

  • Pan, Changchun & Huang, Yuzhe & Jin, Long, 2024. "Natural disasters and corporate tax burden: Evidence from chinese energy sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:130:y:2024:i:c:s0140988324000306
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107322
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988324000306
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107322?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pina, Álvaro M. & Venes, Nuno M., 2011. "The political economy of EDP fiscal forecasts: An empirical assessment," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 534-546, September.
    2. Toshihiro Okubo & Eric Strobl, 2021. "Natural disasters, firm survival, and growth: Evidence from the Ise Bay Typhoon, Japan," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(5), pages 944-970, November.
    3. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1992. "Liquidation Values and Debt Capacity: A Market Equilibrium Approach," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1343-1366, September.
    4. Zhou, Shuya & Zhou, Peiyan & Ji, Hannah, 2022. "Can digital transformation alleviate corporate tax stickiness: The mediation effect of tax avoidance," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    5. Hood, Matthew & Kamesaka, Akiko & Nofsinger, John & Tamura, Teruyuki, 2013. "Investor response to a natural disaster: Evidence from Japan's 2011 earthquake," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 240-252.
    6. Heejeong Kim, 2022. "Inequality, Disaster risk, and the Great Recession," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 45, pages 187-216, July.
    7. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Hussain, Jafar, 2023. "An assessment of socioeconomic indicators and energy consumption by considering green financing," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    8. Ian Ayres & Sophie Raseman & Alice Shih, 2013. "Evidence from Two Large Field Experiments that Peer Comparison Feedback Can Reduce Residential Energy Usage," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 29(5), pages 992-1022, October.
    9. Gamannossi degl’Innocenti, Duccio & Rablen, Matthew D., 2020. "Tax evasion on a social network," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 79-91.
    10. Li, Shuangyan, 2022. "Natural extreme events, government subsidies and corporate environment responsibility: Evidence from China's energy sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    11. Brei, Michael & Mohan, Preeya & Strobl, Eric, 2019. "The impact of natural disasters on the banking sector: Evidence from hurricane strikes in the Caribbean," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 232-239.
    12. Szczygielski, Jan Jakub & Brzeszczyński, Janusz & Charteris, Ailie & Bwanya, Princess Rutendo, 2022. "The COVID-19 storm and the energy sector: The impact and role of uncertainty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    13. Pleninger, Regina, 2022. "Impact of natural disasters on the income distribution," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    14. Koetter, Michael & Noth, Felix & Rehbein, Oliver, 2020. "Borrowers under water! Rare disasters, regional banks, and recovery lending," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    15. Eric Ohrn, 2018. "The Effect of Corporate Taxation on Investment and Financial Policy: Evidence from the DPAD," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 272-301, May.
    16. Fang, Hongsheng & Bao, Yuxin & Zhang, Jun, 2017. "Asymmetric reform bonus: The impact of VAT pilot expansion on China's corporate total tax burden," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(S), pages 17-34.
    17. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Fuhao & Lou, Runchi & Wang, Keying, 2023. "How does green finance drive the decarbonization of the economy? Empirical evidence from China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 671-684.
    18. Bourdeau-Brien, Michael & Kryzanowski, Lawrence, 2017. "The impact of natural disasters on the stock returns and volatilities of local firms," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 259-270.
    19. Du, Weijian & Li, Mengjie & Wang, Faming, 2020. "Role of rent-seeking or technological progress in maintaining the monopoly power of energy enterprises: An empirical analysis based on micro-data from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    20. Simeon Djankov & Tim Ganser & Caralee McLiesh & Rita Ramalho & Andrei Shleifer, 2010. "The Effect of Corporate Taxes on Investment and Entrepreneurship," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 31-64, July.
    21. Keerthiratne, Subhani & Tol, Richard S.J., 2018. "Impact of natural disasters on income inequality in Sri Lanka," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 217-230.
    22. Mudakkar, Syeda Rabab & Zaman, Khalid & Khan, Muhammad Mushtaq & Ahmad, Mehboob, 2013. "Energy for economic growth, industrialization, environment and natural resources: Living with just enough," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 580-595.
    23. repec:aen:journl:ej44-2-lee is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Richardson, Grant & Lanis, Roman, 2007. "Determinants of the variability in corporate effective tax rates and tax reform: Evidence from Australia," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 689-704.
    25. Rachel Doern & Nick Williams & Tim Vorley, 2019. "Special issue on entrepreneurship and crises: business as usual? An introduction and review of the literature," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5-6), pages 400-412, May.
    26. Graham, John R. & Tucker, Alan L., 2006. "Tax shelters and corporate debt policy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(3), pages 563-594, September.
    27. Rashid, Abdul, 2013. "Risks and financing decisions in the energy sector: An empirical investigation using firm-level data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 792-799.
    28. W J Wouter Botzen & Olivier Deschenes & Mark Sanders, 2019. "The Economic Impacts of Natural Disasters: A Review of Models and Empirical Studies," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 13(2), pages 167-188.
    29. Allen, Kyle D. & Whitledge, Matthew D. & Winters, Drew B., 2022. "Community bank liquidity: Natural disasters as a natural experiment," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    30. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Hussain, Jafar, 2023. "Energy sustainability under the COVID-19 outbreak: Electricity break-off policy to minimize electricity market crises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    31. Jie Gan, 2007. "The Real Effects of Asset Market Bubbles: Loan- and Firm-Level Evidence of a Lending Channel," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(6), pages 1941-1973, November.
    32. Duqi, Andi & McGowan, Danny & Onali, Enrico & Torluccio, Giuseppe, 2021. "Natural disasters and economic growth: The role of banking market structure," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    33. Zhao, Xin-Xin & Zheng, Mingbo & Fu, Qiang, 2022. "How natural disasters affect energy innovation? The perspective of environmental sustainability," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    34. Dang, Dandan & Fang, Hongsheng & He, Minyuan, 2019. "Economic policy uncertainty, tax quotas and corporate tax burden: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1-1.
    35. Himmelberg, Charles P & Petersen, Bruce C, 1994. "R&D and Internal Finance: A Panel Study of Small Firms in High-Tech Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(1), pages 38-51, February.
    36. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Chih-Wei & Ho, Shan-Ju & Wu, Ting-Pin, 2025. "Corrigendum to “The impact of natural disaster on energy consumption: International evidence” [Energy Economics Volume 97, May 2021, 105021]," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    37. Eduardo Cavallo & Sebastian Galiani & Ilan Noy & Juan Pantano, 2013. "Catastrophic Natural Disasters and Economic Growth," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(5), pages 1549-1561, December.
    38. Calomiris, Charles W. & Larrain, Mauricio & Liberti, José & Sturgess, Jason, 2017. "How collateral laws shape lending and sectoral activity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 163-188.
    39. Chen, Shawn Xiaoguang, 2017. "The effect of a fiscal squeeze on tax enforcement: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 62-76.
    40. Friedt, Felix L. & Toner-Rodgers, Aidan, 2022. "Natural disasters, intra-national FDI spillovers, and economic divergence: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    41. Liu, Xiaohan & Liu, Jianmin & Wu, Haitao & Hao, Yu, 2022. "Do tax reductions stimulate firm productivity? A quasi-natural experiment from China," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 46(4).
    42. Hines, James R. & Park, Jongsang, 2019. "Investment ramifications of distortionary tax subsidies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 36-51.
    43. Efraim Benmelech & Nittai K. Bergman, 2011. "Bankruptcy and the Collateral Channel," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(2), pages 337-378, April.
    44. Lai, Shaojie & Chen, Lihan & Wang, Qing Sophie & Anderson, Hamish, 2022. "Natural disasters, trade credit, and firm performance," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    45. MacKie-Mason, Jeffrey K, 1990. "Do Taxes Affect Corporate Financing Decisions?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(5), pages 1471-1493, December.
    46. Bloom, Nick & Griffith, Rachel & Van Reenen, John, 2002. "Do R&D tax credits work? Evidence from a panel of countries 1979-1997," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 1-31, July.
    47. Huang, Qiping & Li, Yongjia & Lin, Meimei & McBrayer, Garrett A., 2022. "Natural disasters, risk salience, and corporate ESG disclosure," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    48. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    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. To, Bao Cong Nguyen, 2025. "No cash hoarding under storms: The pushback effect of growth opportunities," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).

    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. Vinzenz Peters, 2025. "How Banks are Impacted by and Mediate the Economic Consequences of Natural Disasters and Climate Shocks: A Review," De Economist, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 47-85, March.
    2. Duqi, Andi & McGowan, Danny & Onali, Enrico & Torluccio, Giuseppe, 2021. "Natural disasters and economic growth: The role of banking market structure," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    3. Pauline Avril & Gregory Levieuge & Camelia Turcu, 2023. "Do bankers want their umbrellas back when it rains? Evidence from typhoons in China," Working Papers 2023.08, International Network for Economic Research - INFER.
    4. Lai, Shaojie & Chen, Lihan & Wang, Qing Sophie & Anderson, Hamish, 2022. "Natural disasters, trade credit, and firm performance," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    5. Dong, Kangyin & Zhao, Congyu & Nepal, Rabindra & Zander, Kerstin K., 2025. "Are natural disasters stumbling blocks to carbon inequality mitigation? A global perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    6. Avril, Pauline & Levieuge, Grégory & Turcu, Camelia, 2025. "Natural disasters and financial stress: can macroprudential regulation tame green swans?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    7. Arin, K. Peren & Marti Arnau, Josep & Boduroglu, Elif & Celik, Esref Ugur, 2024. "Shaken, stirred and indebted: Firm-level effects of earthquakes," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    8. Barth, James R. & Hu, Qinyou & Sickles, Robin & Sun, Yanfei & Yu, Xiaoyu, 2024. "Direct and indirect impacts of natural disasters on banks: A spatial framework," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    9. Chen, Xia & Zhao, Xinxin & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2023. "The shocks of natural disasters on NPLs: Global evidence," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 47(1).
    10. Mukherjee, Abhiroop & Singh, Manpreet & Žaldokas, Alminas, 2017. "Do corporate taxes hinder innovation?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 195-221.
    11. Huang, Ruixian & Shi, Yujing & Li, Danyang & Wang, Shuoxiang & Jia, Zhehao, 2024. "Religious atmosphere, seismic impact, and corporate charitable donations in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    12. Noth, Felix & Schüwer, Ulrich, 2023. "Natural disasters and bank stability: Evidence from the U.S. financial system," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    13. Li, Jingmei & Li, Shuqin & Zhou, Yufei & Xue, Yukun & Liu, Juan, 2025. "Firms under water! harmful algal blooms and corporate performance of coastal enterprises in China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    14. Attila, Joseph & Combes, Jean-Louis & Ouedraogo, Rasmané, 2025. "Natural disasters and bank liquidity creation in Sub-Saharan African countries: Evidence from banks panel data," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    15. Tang, Weizheng & Wang, Yanping & Zhang, Lihang, 2025. "The effect of tax revenue targets on firms’ tax burden: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 108(PA).
    16. Pelli, Martino & Tschopp, Jeanne & Bezmaternykh, Natalia & Eklou, Kodjovi M., 2023. "In the eye of the storm: Firms and capital destruction in India," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    17. Malik, Ihtisham A. & Chowdhury, Hasibul & Alam, Md Samsul, 2023. "Equity market response to natural disasters: Does firm's corporate social responsibility make difference?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    18. Agostino, Mariarosaria, 2024. "Extreme weather events and firms’ energy practices. The role of country governance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    19. Xiong, Jiacai & Huang, Ling & Wang, Xin & Bai, Martin & Qin, Yafeng, 2024. "Local government fiscal stress and regional entrepreneurship: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 177-193.
    20. Chi-Young Choi & Yu Zhang & Michelle Hummel & Qin Qian, 2025. "Reassessing the economic impacts of Hurricane Harvey on Texas: a closer look with granular analyses," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 121(5), pages 5921-5945, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:130:y:2024:i:c:s0140988324000306. 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.