Optimization of the Tax Business Environment and Corporate Green Transformation: Empirical Evidence from the Tax “Streamlining Administration and Delegating Power” Reform

Main Article Content

Yingxin Yang

Keywords

tax business environment, “streamlining administration and delegating power” reform, green innovation, financing constraints, agency costs

Abstract

This paper employs the pilot reform of the “streamlining administration and delegating power” in the tax system as a quasi-natural experiment. Drawing on data from A-share listed companies spanning 2013-2023, it investigates the impact of optimizing the tax business environment on corporate green innovation. The findings reveal that optimizing the tax business environment significantly enhances the level of corporate green innovation. This conclusion holds robust after a series of robustness tests, including parallel trends tests, placebo tests, and controls for contemporaneous policy interferences. Mechanism analysis indicates that optimizing the tax business environment promotes corporate green transformation through two pathways: alleviating financing constraints and reducing agency costs. Heterogeneity analysis further demonstrates that this policy effect is more pronounced in state-owned enterprises, non-heavy polluting enterprises, and regions with higher levels of economic and financial development. This study provides important theoretical foundations and policy implications for deepening the “streamlining administration and delegating power” reform and optimizing the tax business environment to stimulate corporate green innovation momentum.

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