A Multi-case Study On The Impact Of Environmental Protection Tax On The Green Transformation Of Steel Enterprise

The steel industry plays a pivotal role in China’s industrial economy,but its high pollution and high energy consumption have caused great harm to the ecological environment.In order to build an ecological civilisation and win the battle against the pollution,the environmental protection tax was formally introduced on 1 January 2018.What impact will the introduction of the environmental protection tax have on steel companies? Will it lead to a green transformation for steel companies?Will the differentiation of environmental tax rates bring about different green transformation effects?In order to investigate the effects of the implementation of the environmental tax,this paper will use a multi-case study approach to conduct an in-depth analysis and investigation.Firstly,we construct an evaluation system for the green transformation of the steel industry and conduct a factor analysis of 36 listed steel companies to obtain their green transformation scores.The results of this study show that the effect of green transformation in steel companies is related to the pressure they are under to transform,and that the pressure to transform is related to the change in tax burden after the introduction of the environmental protection tax.The paper further investigates the effect of different environmental taxes on the green transformation of Hunan Valin Steel Co.,Ltd and HBIS Company Limited and Angang Steel Company Limited through a two-stage screening process.With the help of a comparative analysis of the cost of emission charges/environmental taxes and environmental tax responses of the case companies,the main conclusions are:(1)the pressure of environmental tax burden caused by the increase in environmental tax rate is a driving force for green transformation;(2)the expected marginal benefits of green transformation are the basis for the companies’ decision to make green transformation.Based on the findings,the following recommendations are made: regional differences and tax rate bases should be fully considered,as well as inter-enterprise differences,and a combination of rigid taxation and flexible incentives should be introduced;and a suitable tax rate plan should be formulated according to the actual situation,with a view to maximising the effectiveness of the environmental tax in promoting green transformation of enterprises.