| Abstract [eng] |
The main goal of this master thesis is to evaluate how environmental taxes and other environmental measures influence the performance of Lithuanian companies. The work is structured in this way: first part is literature review, second is research methodology, third part is research and finally conclusions and recommendations. Literature review revealed that the main goals of environmental taxes and other environmental measures are to reduce harmful effects on nature, encourage the use of sustainable technologies and raise funds for the development of environmental projects. The following tax types were defined – six environmental taxes and three excise taxes. Other environmental measures such as emission permits, green subsidies and tax incentives were identified. The analysis of scientific literature indicates that implementing environmental taxes and other environmental measures will generate some benefits: collection of additional tax revenues, a positive impact on increasing employment, reduction of poverty and income inequality, positive impact on public debt management and encouragement for companies to invest in sustainable technologies. However, in the short term, a negative impact on economic growth is observed, because costs of companies increase and this leads to price rise for goods and services. The analysis of literature helped to determine that the impact of environmental taxes and other environmental measures on the performance of companies becomes evident through technological progress, cost optimization and increasing profitability. However, some studies prove that the introduction of these taxes leads to the emergence of excessive costs, which negatively affects the performance of companies. The main research method is case studies of several companies, in order to determine the impact of environmental taxes and other environmental measures on the performance of those companies. The performed research confirmed that environmental taxes have an insignificant effect on the performance of companies. In some cases, taxes are fully compensated by the customers. On the other hand, it was found that emission permits had a positive effect on the performance of companies, because profitability indicators improved and companies received additional funds for financing environmental projects. In addition, the implementation of environmental innovations is associated with government subsidies. The positive influence of received subsidies on the companies performance has been established, as it accelerates the development of sustainable technologies. Finally, the research results revealed that environmental tax incentives have a positive effect on the performance of companies, but this effect was not significant. In the master thesis, the conclusions summarize the key elements of scientific literature analysis and the research findings. The most important discoveries are that environmental taxes show an insignificant impact on companies’ performance, but other environmental measures demonstrate a positive influence. |
