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Purpose: This study aims to examine the ramifications of corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing in zombie firms and considers how external funding support may moderate this relationship given the sustainable nature of ESG performance, which often incurs costs. Design/methodology/approach: Panel regression analyses used data from China's A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2019, resulting in a data set comprising 6,054 observations. Findings: Despite firms' additional financial burdens, corporate ESG investing emerges as a catalyst in resurrecting zombie firms by attracting investor attention. Further analysis underscores the significance of funding support from entities such as the government and banks in alleviating ESG cost pressures and enhancing the efficacy of corporate ESG investing. Notably, the positive impact of corporate ESG investing is most pronounced in non-heavily polluting and non-state-owned firms. The results of classification tests reveal that social (S) and governance (G) investing yield greater efficacy in revitalizing zombie firms compared to environmental (E) investing. Practical implications: This research enriches the discourse on corporate ESG investing and offers insights for governing zombie firms and shaping government policies. Originality/value: By extending the domain of ESG research to encompass zombie firms, this paper sheds light on the multifaceted role of corporate ESG investing. Furthermore, this study comprehensively evaluates the influence of external funding support on the positive outcomes of ESG investing, thereby contributing to the resolution of the longstanding debate on the relationship between ESG performance and corporate financial performance, particularly with regard to ESG costs and benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We document the positive effect of local gambling preferences on corporate tax avoidance using province‐level lottery sales data as a proxy for local gambling preferences. This result is robust to a battery of sensitivity tests. Furthermore, the positive effect of local gambling preferences on corporate tax avoidance is weaker (stronger) when firms face stronger (weaker) tax enforcement, have greater (less) institutional ownership, and followed by more (less) analysts. Last, we find that local gambling preferences influence corporate tax avoidance by shaping the risk attitudes of insiders (i.e. controlling shareholders and managers). Overall, we shed light on the real effect of local gambling preferences on corporate tax avoidance behaviour in emerging economies such as China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tax policymaking in China has created conditions for local governments to strategically leverage tax policies (e.g. tax preferences, tax collection and management efficiency, and fiscal subsidies) to have carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. By constructing an endogenous growth model with tax competition, capital mobility, technological innovation, and carbon emissions, this study investigates how tax competition is influencing firm-level behaviour and providing climate-relevant policy implications. It has theoretically demonstrated that this effect depends on technological innovation and operates through the capital mechanism. This finding is empirically confirmed in this analysis using a spatial panel threshold model with fixed effects designed to fit a balanced provincial panel dataset in China over the period 2005–2018. The main results are fourfold. First, provinces with similar carbon emissions intensity (CEI) tend to cluster spatially. That is, a province with a high CEI usually has neighbours with high CEIs. Second, a threshold effect is confirmed, revealing that higher tax collection and management efficiency (lower tax competition) decreases CEI if technological innovation is below the threshold value; otherwise, lower tax competition usually increases CEI. Third, capital mobility is a potential mechanism through which tax competition influences CEI. Specifically, provinces with a high level of technological innovation attract more knowledge- and technology-intensive firms and crowd out firms with low innovation capacities, potentially reducing local CEI. Finally, as indicated in our spatial heterogeneity analysis, the effect of higher tax competition decreasing CEI is only observed in the western region. These findings suggest the need for cross-provincial collaboration in developing taxation policies to ensure these policies help to advance the transition to a low-carbon economy and raise capital entry barriers for high-carbon emission projects in provinces with a low level of technological innovation. Cross-provincial taxation policies can be designed to encourage the transition to a low-carbon economy due to spatial agglomeration and heterogeneity of carbon emissions intensity (CEI). The focus of tax competition should be knowledge- and technology-intensive firms with a high level of technological innovation. Tax competition can be relaxed in China's provinces with a low level of technological innovation to reduce CEI; otherwise, it should be strengthened. The central government in China could usefully raise capital entry barriers for high-carbon emission projects in provinces with low levels of technological innovation and guide local governments to attract more projects with high returns and low carbon emissions to avoid a race to the bottom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long R&D process, the high risk, and the externalities of technological innovation are challenges that enterprises have to meet when making decisions on R&D investment. Governments share this risk with enterprises through preferential tax policies. We summarized China's preferential tax policies related to enterprises and R&D innovation, and used panel data of listed enterprises from 2013 to 2018 in the Growth Enterprises Market (GEM) of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange to explore the incentive effects of current tax policies on the R&D innovation of enterprises. Through empirical analysis, we found that tax incentives significantly motivate R&D innovation input and promote output. In addition, we found that the income tax incentives are greater than that of the circulation tax, since the profitability of enterprise has a positive correlation with R&D investment. Meanwhile, the size of the enterprise is negatively correlated with the intensity of R&D investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines a technology-related change process in a transitioning Chinese economy by identifying the pressures for deinstitutionalization and the moderating factors that affect a practical example of its implementation. The analysis is underpinned by the Cunningham (2002) model of organizational change, and the study focuses on the case of ANTA Sports Products Ltd., a Chinese sporting goods manufacturer undergoing an organizational change from imitation to innovation. Data were gathered from official and semiofficial documents and four semistructured interviews. The main findings are as follows: (1) a glut of low-end products, Chinese consumers' positive technology readiness and growing sense of Chinese patriotism, and internal political pressures were particular stressors for ANTA; (2) tax preferences provided ANTA with a strong motive to promote its change process, while weak intellectual property rights and institutional protections had the opposite effect; and (3) ANTA's access to affordable resources, the CEO's determination, the elimination of the alternative, and the dependence upon consumers for resources ensured its successful implementation of organizational change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes the 2014 pilot project of accelerated depreciation of fixed assets as a quasi-natural experiment, and builds a Propensity Score Matching–Difference in Differences (PSM-DID) model based on the data of Chinese listed companies from 2000 to 2019 to test the impact of tax preference on enterprise investment efficiency and its mechanism. The results show that the policy inhibits supported enterprises investment efficiency significantly. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the policy causes greater investment efficiency losses for small and medium-sized enterprises, non-state-owned enterprises and asset-heavy enterprises. The mechanism test found the reason why the policy eased financing constraints but inhibited investment efficiency in short-term. After a variety of robustness tests, the above basic conclusions are still valid. Although the accelerated depreciation policy of fixed assets is conducive to expanding the scale of investment, the incentive effect on investment efficiency is not obvious, and even shows a restraining effect. Given the existence of heterogeneity, the design of the policy should not only distinguish industries, but also pay attention to the differences between different enterprises in the same industry. Strengthening research and development (R&D) innovation and improving the matching mechanism between human capital and fixed investment will help give full play to the incentive effect of this policy. The research in this paper helps to deepen the understanding of the microeconomic effects of tax policy and identify the internal mechanism, which not only enriches the relevant literature, but also provides a reference for the government to better use tax policy to promote the high-quality development of enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In order to alleviate the pressure of the basic endowment insurance system, China has implemented the policy of individual income tax-deferred commercial endowment insurance (IITDCEI) and actively explored the development path of individual supplementary endowment insurance. At present, the same tax rules are adopted for different income groups. Considering that people's income gap is large, different income groups enjoy different degrees of tax preference under this policy, which may cause social injustice and increase the gap between the rich and the poor. Based on this, we propose a new optimization scheme by adjusting the tax rate and the maximum premium limit of the insurance amount so as to coordinate the interests of low-, medium-, and high-income subjects and balance the degree of tax preference among the three subjects. At the same time, we also change the two parameters of the predetermined interest rate and retirement age, and compare the changes of the tax preference under the old and new schemes, and provide corresponding countermeasures for the implementation of the IITDCEI policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the perspective of the regional innovation system, this study constructs an analytical framework for the influence of government R&D funding on regional innovation quality and uses 283 Chinese cities as research samples to empirically test the influence of government R&D funding methods such as subsidies and tax preferences on regional innovation quality by the spatial Durbin model. According to the study, China's regional innovation quality has a positive spatial correlation. Subsidies can improve regional innovation quality, which is mainly realized by increasing the input of innovation resources from local direct innovation subjects, attracting the inflow of innovation resources from neighboring areas, and increasing the innovation support from local indirect innovation subjects. Besides, spatial competition for subsidies makes it beneficial to improve the regional innovation quality in neighboring regions, while the promotion effect of tax preferences is not significant. When considering the heterogeneity of the city location and administrative hierarchy, it shows that the government R&D funding cannot improve the innovation quality of the Eastern cities and higher-administrative-hierarchy cities, while it can improve that of the Middle and Western cities and general-administrative-hierarchy cities. Furthermore, government R&D funding widens the gap of regional innovation quality, which may be related to the existing "insufficient intervention" and "excessive intervention" of government R&D funding. This study provides insights into the implementation of R&D funding by the government to promote the development of regional innovation quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet-based electronic waste (e-waste) collection is an effective way to achieve both profitability for collectors and convenience for consumers. However, its introduction faces significant challenges in China. Few studies have systematically identified and analyzed the barriers to an Internet-based e-waste collection system in China. This study proposes a research framework that considers stakeholder theory to identify the barriers faced by Internet-based e-waste collection systems. A grey-based Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory method is applied for the analysis of the major barriers. The findings show that a lack of tax preference is a key barrier, which should be carefully considered both in the short- and long term. Additionally, low consumer participation intention is the strongest barrier. This study not only contributes to the literature on Internet-based e-waste collection systems but also provides valuable insights for decision-makers toward improving the performance of Internet-based e-waste collection practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper examines how industrial policy – specifically tariff liberalization and tax subsidies – affects the magnitude and direction of FDI spillovers. We examine these spillover effects across the diverse ownership structure of China’s manufacturing sector for 1998 through 2007. We find that tariff reforms, particularly tariff reductions associated with China’s WTO ascension, increased the productivity impacts of FDI’s backward spillovers. Tax policy – both corporate income and VAT subsidies – has seemingly drawn FDI into strategic industries that spawn significant vertical spillovers. We conclude that liberalization measures during the critical 1998–2007 period on balance served to enhance productivity growth in Chinese industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green innovation and pollutant emissions are currently among the hottest topics in corporate environmental behavior (CEB) research. However, a few previous studies have examined these two concepts together at the choice level of CEB. This paper discusses the internal selection logic of CEB by using multinomial logit (MNL) models that consider the choices of enterprises in green innovation and illegal emissions, both across China and separately in different regions. The objective of this paper is to consider the four choices available to heavily polluting enterprises' dual-target corporate environmental behavior (DTCEB), including alienated, conservative, contradictory, and intimate environmental behaviors. The results of this study show that, under various external pressures, 61.2% of heavily polluting enterprises choose conservative environmental behavior. There is also generally a lack of synchronization between the goals of short-term economic and long-term social benefits. At the current stage, environmental regulation measures should focus on guiding enterprises to change from alienated, conservative, and contradictory behaviors, to intimate. Instead of only focusing on monitoring pollution emissions, the government should focus on green innovation guidance to effectively promote the transformation and upgrading of heavily polluting enterprises. A moderate adjustment of the intensity of command regulation may lead to better regulatory effects. Specifically, the enforcement of laws across China should be slowed; efforts should be made to increase the focus of public participation in the eastern region; the importance of incentive-based tax rate preferences should be increased in the central region, and the intensity of legislation should be strengthened in the western region. Compared with the emphasis on environmental performance in other literature, this article uses comparative thinking to explore the choice logic of the DTCEBs, which attaches different degrees of importance to long-term social benefits and short-term economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yang, X.; Yuan, W., and Li, Z.M., 2020. An analysis on the dynamic impact of corporate income tax on technological innovation in China with the construction of ecological civilization for water conservation, energy conservation and emission reduction. In: Bai, X. and Zhou, H. (eds.), Advances in Water Resources, Environmental Protection, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 115, pp. 535-538. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. With the promotion of ecological civilization construction, the government has always been concerned about how to achieve technological innovation and upgrading, so as to better carry out emission reduction and environmental protection. Only through technological innovation can enterprises better realize water and energy saving and promote environmental sustainable development. As the second largest tax in China, corporate income tax affects the level of technological innovation through tax revenue and tax preference. In this paper, on the basis of theoretical analysis, the panel data of China from 1998 to 2017 were used to empirically test the impact of corporate income tax on the dynamics of technological innovation. The results show that the corporate income tax has significantly promoted the technological innovation in U shape to some extent, which was further proved by a threshold regression, that is, the short-term income backwardness mechanism and the implementation of tax preferential policies have significantly improved the level of technological innovation. However, with the increase of the burden of technological innovation of enterprises and the defects of tax preferential policies, the promotion level has been reduced. The long-term corporate income tax has reached a certain scale, which ensures the financial revenue and the government's efforts to optimize the allocation of tax resources, reasonably standardizes and plays the role of preferential policies, and increases its promotion role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]