Does Soil Pollution Prevention and Control Promote Corporate Sustainable Development? A Quasi-Natural Experiment of "10-Point Soil Plan" in China

The Action Plan for Soil Pollution Prevention and Control ("10-point Soil Plan") provides the top-level design for soil environmental protection in China and motivates heavy polluters to participate in soil pollution prevention and control. Using a sample of Chinese-listed firms with key soil pollution regulation from 2013 to 2020, this study utilized the Difference-in-Differences method to analyze the effect and mechanism of the "10-point Soil Plan" on corporate sustainable development. The "10-point Soil Plan" significantly promoted corporate sustainability via debt vacating and cash defense effects. However, this policy failed to achieve innovation compensation. Further, the promotion of corporate sustainability via the "10-point Soil Plan" is more significant in state-owned and large enterprises and depends on the intensity of local environmental regulations. This study provides a valuable reference for government and corporates to actively implement soil pollution prevention and control measures, which complements the systematic study of soil environmental planning and helps China integrate soil environmental planning with water and air environmental planning to build a comprehensive pollution prevention system.