Can "environmental protection fee to tax" reduce carbon emissions? Evidence from China.

• This paper investigates the impact of "environmental protection fee to tax" policy on carbon emissions of China. • Enhancing green technological innovation and executives environmental awareness can facilitate the positive impacts of "environmental protection fee to tax" policy on carbon emissions. • The study reveals that the green awareness of enterprise executives plays a moderating role. This paper investigates the impact of "environmental protection fee to tax" policy on carbon emissions, officially implemented on January 1, 2018 in China. Using a novel dataset covering Chinese firms from 2015 to 2020, our findings reveal a significant reduction in carbon emissions attributable to the "environmental protection fee to tax" policy. Additional analysis suggests that enhancing green technological innovation and executives environmental awareness can facilitate the positive impacts of "environmental protection fee to tax" policy on carbon emissions. Notably, heterogeneity tests underscore that the policy's adverse effects are more pronounced among non-state-owned enterprises, companies located in eastern regions, and small-scale enterprises in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]