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ABSTRACT
In the new wave of the scientific and technological revolution, clean production and digital transformation are the primary directions of development for energy-intensive industries. In this study, we examined the impact of the 2016 Chinese Environmental Protection Tax Law (EPTL2016) on energy-intensive firms’ financial performance and explored the role of digital transformation using panel data from Chinese A-share-listed companies. Using the difference-in-differences method, we found that the EPTL2016 has significantly improved energy-intensive firms’ financial performance by incentivizing their digital transformation but has at the same time moderated the economic benefits of digital transformation. Moreover, state-owned enterprises have been more effective at improving their financial performance through digital transformation under the pressure of the EPTL2016. From a regional perspective, the EPTL2016 has enhanced energy-intensive firms’ financial performance primarily through digital transformation in regions with better digital infrastructure, and through green transformation in regions highly dependent on resource and in regions with stricter environmental governance.
Acknowledgments
We appreciate the linguistic assistance provided by SCRIBENDI (www.scribendi.com) during the preparation of this manuscript.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Author Contributions
Conceptualization: Yao-bin Liu; Funding acquisition: Yao-bin Liu; Methodology & language proofreading: Kang Luo; Data curation: Ming-Yuan Tang; Writing-original draft: Wei-feng Deng; Writing-review & editing: Wei-feng Deng.