Can Government Environmental Audit Promote the Innovation of Heavily Polluting Enterprises?
Kang Chenyi and Zhang Hua
摘要：随着政府环境审计制度的日趋完善，大量学者从宏观层面探究了政府环境审计的理论体系与相关制度设计，但鲜有学者从实证角度分析其对于微观企业的影响。基于2007-2019年中国A股工业上市公司的面板数据，本文利用2009年审计署颁布《审计署关于加强资源环境审计工作的意见》这一外生事件构建准自然实验，采用双重差分法检验政府环境审计对重污染企业创新能力的影响。研究发现：政府环境审计能够显著提升重污染企业的创新能力，具体表现为企业期末无形资产占总资产的比重显著增加。机制分析表明，政府环境审计通过提升重污染企业营运能力进而促进了重污染企业创新。同时，较高的政府补贴水平会削弱这一激励效应。进一步异质性分析表明，在注册地位于东部、西部及东北地区的企业、所有权属性为国有控股的企业和负债规模适中的企业中，政府环境审计能够有效激励重污染企业的创新能力。研究结论证明了政府环境审计能间接促进相关重污染企业的创新活动，展示了政府环境审计在不同情形下的政策效果。
关键词：政府环境审计；企业创新；重污染企业；双重差分法
Abstract：With the increasing improvement of the government environmental audit system, a large number of scholars have explored the theoretical system and related institutional design of government environmental audit at the macro level, but few scholars have analyzed its impact on micro firms from an empirical perspective. Based on the panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2007-2019, this paper constructs a quasi-natural experiment using the exogenous event of the Audit Office promulgating the Opinions of the Audit Office on Strengthening Resource and Environment Auditing in 2009, and examines the impact of government environmental audits on the innovation ability of heavily polluting firms using the double difference method. It was found that government environmental audits could significantly enhance the innovation capability of heavy polluting enterprises, as evidenced by a significant increase in the proportion of intangible assets to total assets at the end of the enterprise period. Mechanism analysis shows that government environmental audit can promote the innovation of heavily polluting enterprises by improving their operational capabilities. At the same time, the higher level of government subsidies will weaken this incentive effect. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that government environmental audits can effectively stimulate the innovation capacity of heavy polluting enterprises to innovate among enterprises whose registered locations are in the eastern, western and northeastern regions, enterprises whose ownership attributes are state-controlled, and enterprises with moderate debt size. The findings demonstrate that government environmental audits can indirectly promote the innovative activities of relevant heavy polluting enterprises, demonstrating the policy effects of government environmental audits in different situations.
Keywords: Government Environmental Audit; Enterprise Innovation; Heavy Polluting Enterprises；Double Difference Method
基金资助：国家自然科学基金青年项目“中国式分权下绿色悖论的形成机理、效应评估与疏解路径研究”（71703073）、全国统计科学研究项目“雾霾污染对城乡收入差距影响的效应测度研究”（2020LY094）、江苏省社会科学基金项目“环境规制视角下江苏碳排放的长效治理机制研究”（16GLC005）。
