Environmental subsidies and companies’ environmental investments

Abstract Environmental subsidies are important means for the government to promote companies to fulfil environmental protection responsibilities. Employing a text analysis method, this study obtains the data on government subsidies for environmental protection of A-share listed companies in China from 2007 to 2016. Empirical estimates show that the subsidies received by companies promote their environmental inputs. Additionally, analyst tracking and internal control enhance the positive effect of subsidies on the companies’ environmental investments. The above results are still valid after testing the Heckman two-stage model and the Propensity-Score-Matching and Difference-in-Difference model. This paper provides evidential support for the effectiveness of government subsidies and explores feasible ways to improve the efficiency of government subsidies based on the corporate governance channels.