Title: How does state ownership affect pollution control? Evidence from the Chinese iron and steel industry

Authors: Zhi Tang; Delmonize A. Smith

Addresses: E. Philip Saunders College of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology, Max Lowenthal Building, Room 2327, 107 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY, 14623-5608, USA. ' E. Philip Saunders College of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology, Max Lowenthal Building, Room A319, 107 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY, 14623-5608, USA

Abstract: Little is known about how state ownership affects firms' environmental activities. Building on corporate governance literature, we examine the two strategies that Chinese state-owned iron and steel companies may adopt: they can invest in environmental projects, but can also pay an environmental fee and keep polluting. With longitudinal data collected from public Chinese steel firms from 2001-2008, we found that in any given year, the percentage of state ownership does not significantly affect environmental investment; however, a higher percentage of state ownership can decrease environmental fees. As time goes by, firms with a higher state ownership can pay even fewer environmental fees than they used to.

Keywords: environmental investment; environmental fees; state-owned enterprises; iron and steel industry; China; state ownership; environmental impact; environmental pollution.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBGE.2012.050042

International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 2012 Vol.7 No.3, pp.173 - 190

Published online: 25 Oct 2012 *

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