ABSTRACT

We utilize the environmental protection tax law as an exogenous shock to the tax of environmental protection to investigate the relationship between environmental issues and corporate capital structure. Our findings show that, following the adoption of this tax law, polluting firms are more likely to reduce their leverage. This phenomenon is more pronounced in polluting firms with excess cash, financially constrained firms, or financially distressed firms. Overall, we find that the environmental protection tax reduces corporate leverage by increasing corporate outlays and crowding out debt interest expenses.

中文翻译：

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环保税与企业资本结构

摘要

我们利用环境保护税法作为对环境保护税的外生冲击来考察环境问题与企业资本结构之间的关系。我们的研究结果表明，在通过该税法后，污染企业更有可能降低其杠杆率。这种现象在现金过剩的污染企业、财务受限的企业或财务困境的企业中更为明显。总体而言，我们发现环保税通过增加企业支出和挤出债务利息支出来降低企业杠杆率。