{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/120624"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/120624","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Is Corporate Taxation Bad for the Environment? An Empirical Analysis of the Association between State-Level Taxation and Corporate Environmental Performance","abstract":"I investigate the impact of statutory tax rates on U.S. firms' environmental performance. Prior literature emphasizes the effect of manager influence on the relation between tax avoidance and environmental activities. However, it is unclear how taxes imposed on a firm impact environmental performance. Firms subject to higher statutory tax rates experience more restricted cash flows. As such, higher statutory tax rates may limit managers' ability to address environmental concerns. Firms that experience higher statutory tax rates may not prioritize environmental efforts, which are often non-essential to a firm's operations, despite government incentives. Alternatively, higher tax rates may encourage firms to address environmental concerns due to the tax shield that these expenses provide and the relatively lower cost to shareholders. Observing tax rate variation at the state level, I find higher state tax rates are associated with weaker environmental performance. My study contributes to regulators' understanding of the interaction between tax policy and firms' abilities to address their environmental impact.","abstract_html":"I investigate the impact of statutory tax rates on U.S. firms' environmental performance. Prior literature emphasizes the effect of manager influence on the relation between tax avoidance and environmental activities. However, it is unclear how taxes imposed on a firm impact environmental performance. Firms subject to higher statutory tax rates experience more restricted cash flows. As such, higher statutory tax rates may limit managers' ability to address environmental concerns. Firms that experience higher statutory tax rates may not prioritize environmental efforts, which are often non-essential to a firm's operations, despite government incentives. Alternatively, higher tax rates may encourage firms to address environmental concerns due to the tax shield that these expenses provide and the relatively lower cost to shareholders. Observing tax rate variation at the state level, I find higher state tax rates are associated with weaker environmental performance. My study contributes to regulators' understanding of the interaction between tax policy and firms' abilities to address their environmental impact.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Meersman, James Elliot"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":"Business, Accounting and Information Systems","degree_department":"Business, Accounting and Information Systems","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Davidson, Robert H.","Acito, Andrew A."],"committee_members":["Chakravarti, Dipankar","Lisic, Ling Lei"],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-07-09","date_published":"2024-07-09","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:03Z","subjects":["Environmental Performance","Statutory Corporate Income Tax Rates","Environmental Legislation","Corporate Social Responsibility"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:41189"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:41189","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10919/120624","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Davidson, Robert H.","Acito, Andrew A."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Chakravarti, Dipankar","Lisic, Ling Lei"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Business, Accounting and Information Systems"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Meersman, James Elliot"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2024-07-10T08:00:11Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-07-10T08:00:11Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2024-07-09"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Business, Accounting and Information Systems"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Environmental Performance","Statutory Corporate Income Tax Rates","Environmental Legislation","Corporate Social Responsibility"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:41189"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10919/120624"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["I investigate the impact of statutory tax rates on U.S. firms' environmental performance. Prior literature emphasizes the effect of manager influence on the relation between tax avoidance and environmental activities. However, it is unclear how taxes imposed on a firm impact environmental performance. Firms subject to higher statutory tax rates experience more restricted cash flows. As such, higher statutory tax rates may limit managers' ability to address environmental concerns. Firms that experience higher statutory tax rates may not prioritize environmental efforts, which are often non-essential to a firm's operations, despite government incentives. Alternatively, higher tax rates may encourage firms to address environmental concerns due to the tax shield that these expenses provide and the relatively lower cost to shareholders. Observing tax rate variation at the state level, I find higher state tax rates are associated with weaker environmental performance. My study contributes to regulators' understanding of the interaction between tax policy and firms' abilities to address their environmental impact."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstractgeneral","label":"General Abstract","values":["I investigate the impact of statutory state income tax rates on U.S. firms' environmental performance. Firms subject to higher tax rates experience more restricted cash flows. As such, higher tax rates may limit managers' ability to address environmental concerns. Alternatively, higher tax rates may encourage firms to address environmental concerns due to the tax write off that these expenses provide. Observing tax rate variation at the state level, I find higher state tax rates are associated with weaker environmental performance. My study contributes to regulators' understanding of the interaction between tax policy and firms' abilities to address their environmental impact."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Is Corporate Taxation Bad for the Environment? An Empirical Analysis of the Association between State-Level Taxation and Corporate Environmental Performance"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Davidson, Robert H.","Acito, Andrew A."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Chakravarti, Dipankar","Lisic, Ling Lei"],"dc:contributor.department":["Business, Accounting and Information Systems"],"dc:creator":["Meersman, James Elliot"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2024-07-10T08:00:11Z"],"dc:date.available":["2024-07-10T08:00:11Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2024-07-09"],"dc:description.abstract":["I investigate the impact of statutory tax rates on U.S. firms' environmental performance. Prior literature emphasizes the effect of manager influence on the relation between tax avoidance and environmental activities. However, it is unclear how taxes imposed on a firm impact environmental performance. Firms subject to higher statutory tax rates experience more restricted cash flows. 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As such, higher tax rates may limit managers' ability to address environmental concerns. Alternatively, higher tax rates may encourage firms to address environmental concerns due to the tax write off that these expenses provide. Observing tax rate variation at the state level, I find higher state tax rates are associated with weaker environmental performance. 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