Abstract: The reform of environmental protection fee to tax marks a shift from a government-led pollution discharge fee system to a market-oriented environmental tax system; then can this change suppress corporate financialization and promote the high-quality development of the real economy? Taking the implementation of the Environmental Protection Tax Law in 2018 as an opportunity and China's A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2015 to 2020 as samples, this article explores the impact of the reform of environmental protection fee to tax on corporate financialization by using a double-difference approach. The findings show that the reform of environmental protection fee to tax can significantly inhibit corporate financialization; when the market system is better and the media supervision is stronger, the reform of environmental protection fee to tax has a more significant inhibitory effect on corporate financialization. The results of further intermediate mechanism analysis show that the mechanism of the reform of environmental protection fee to tax in inhibiting corporate financialization lies in that it can help enterprises to increase environmental protection investments and R&D investments.

Key words: the reform of environmental protection fee to tax, Environmental Protection Tax Law, corporate financialization, environmental protection investment, R&D investment;