Abstract:

As an important tool of fiscal policy, preferential tax policies incentivize enterprises to actively adopt the ESG concept actively, achieving a deep integration of economic and social benefits. This paper empirically examines the impact of preferential tax policies on the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance of corporate entities and their underlying mechanisms, using data from Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2018 to 2023. The research findings indicate that preferential tax policies can significantly enhance corporate ESG performance, and in terms of impact mechanisms, preferential tax policies primarily improve corporate ESG performance by alleviating financing constraints and increasing corporate R&D investment. Further analysis reveals that, compared to state-owned enterprises, both income tax incentives and turnover tax incentives have a more pronounced effect on improving the ESG performance of non-state-owned enterprises. Compared to central and western China, these two types of tax incentives have a stronger incentive effect on the ESG performance of enterprises in eastern China. Based on this, in the future, tax incentives should be continuously promoted, financing support and R&D incentives should be strengthened, and the overall ESG performance of capital markets should be improved to achieve coordinated economic and social benefits.

Key words: tax incentives, ESG performance, financing constraints, R&D investment

摘要：

税收优惠政策作为财政政策的重要组成部分，可激励企业积极践行ESG理念，实现经济效益与社会效益的深度融合。文章选取2018—2023年我国沪深A股上市公司数据，实证探究税收优惠政策对企业ESG表现的影响及其作用机制。研究结果表明：税收优惠政策能够显著提升企业ESG表现；从作用机制来看，税收优惠政策主要通过缓解企业融资约束、加大企业研发投入来提升企业ESG表现；进一步分析发现，相较于国有企业，所得税优惠和流转税优惠对非国有企业ESG表现提升的促进作用更明显；相较于中西部地区，两种税收优惠政策对东部地区企业ESG表现提升的促进作用更明显。基于此，今后应持续推进税收优惠政策，强化融资支持与研发激励，推动资本市场整体ESG表现提升，实现经济效益与社会效益协同发展。

关键词: 税收优惠, ESG表现, 融资约束, 研发投入