Improving carbon emission performance is widely regarded as one of the most cost-effective ways to combat clime change. This paper employs a parametric Malmquist index approach to measure total ...factor carbon productivity in 88 economies over the period of 1975–2013. Then, we explore the trend of carbon productivity with the log t regression test and identify potential convergent clubs. Furthermore, the Ordered Probit model is employed to examine the factors affecting the club convergence of carbon productivity growth. The main findings are as follows: (1) the carbon productivity on average increased by 63.5% during the sample period, mainly driven by technological progress; (2) the developed countries performed better than the developing countries. Meanwhile, the developed economies were far ahead in terms of technological progress, while the developing ones have performed slightly better in terms of carbon efficiency improvement; (3) although the whole sample did not show convergent trend, five convergence clubs formed with significant differences in carbon productivity growth; (4) the economies with higher GDP per capita and R&D investment tended to converge to the club with a higher carbon productivity, while the economies with higher energy intensity and foreign trade dependence tended to converge to the club with a lower carbon productivity. Finally, we draw some important policy implications.
•Total factor carbon productivity in 88 economies during 1975–2013 is estimated.•Total factor carbon productivity growth is mainly driven by technological progress.•Five convergence clubs in terms of total factor carbon productivity are identified.•Factors affecting convergent behaviors are examined.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
As the economy enters the new normal in China, more and more intellectuals are concerned about the energy consumption in the economic green transformation and development process; this article ...computes the energy consumption embodied in various final demand types by the utilization of the environmentally extended input-output (EEIO) model during 2000–2014. Then, the structural decomposition analysis is adopted for exploring energy consumption changes’ driving factors considering various final demand categories. Furthermore, the decoupling between economic growth and energy consumption embodied in various final demand categories is revealed by the application of the Tapio model in China. The results indicate as below: (1) the energy consumption embodied in various final demand categories increased significantly during the study period; (2) the gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) was most conducive to the growth of energy consumption, while the construction department emerged as the greatest energy user in GFCF; (3) coal and oil were two main energy sources consumed regardless of any final demand categories; (4) in the three drivers, the scale effect had a primary contribution to increasing energy consumption. The intensity effect made a crucial contribution to mitigating energy consumption. The structural effect had a mild contribution to the energy consumption changes; (5) the five final demand categories were roughly characterized by the weak decoupling over the period 2000–2014. GFCF determined the decoupling index between economy growth and energy consumption largely. Finally, this article put forward implied policies concerning the reduction of energy utilization in China.
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CEKLJ, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The fiscal imbalance between the central and local governments under fiscal centralization may motivate local governments to pass tax burdens on firms. The causal identification of the tax system ...reform and the sustainable export innovation behavior of firms are of great significance. This study uses the income tax sharing policy of China to examine the impact of fiscal centralization on the sustainable export innovation behavior of firms. We find that this tax reform has significantly inhibited the increase of the export value-added rate of firms, and has an increasing trend with the share ratio between the Central Government and the local government. Moreover, this effect mainly comes from the crowding-out effect of imported intermediate goods on domestic intermediate goods. The tests show that the above conclusions are consistent with the general logic of local governments. When they face greater downward fiscal pressure, they will further pass the tax burden on local firms and force the firms to promote their export performance to expand the tax base. This short-sighted behavior of replacing “quality improvement” with “quantity increase” is an important factor that affects the sustainable export innovation behavior of firms and the climb in the global value chain.
Based on the pattern of difference in Chinese social trust, this study classifies the social trust into trust in family members, trust in acquaintances, and trust in strangers. Then, the ...correlational relationship between different types of social trust and subjective well-being is examined using the micro survey data in China. It is found that different types of social trust vary greatly in the correlation with subjective well-being. The main findings are as follows: (a) Trust in family members has no significant correlation with subjective well-being; (b) Only “totally trust acquaintances” has a significant positive correlation with subjective well-being; (c) Trust in strangers has a significant positive correlation with subjective well-being—the higher the trust level, the stronger the correlation with subjective well-being will be—and (d) Urban–rural and male–female differences exist in the correlational relationship between trust in strangers and subjective well-being.
China’s rural industrialization, which flourished in the 1980s, has suddenly declined since the mid-1990s. Based on the perspective of institutional change of rural collective construction land, this ...paper discusses the reasons behind the rise and fall of China’s rural industrialization. Using the empirical tests of China’s provincial panel data from 1987 to 1997, it is found that from the 1980s to the mid-1990s, the government relaxed the regulation of collective construction land and allowed its transfer, which was the institutional basis for the rapid rise of China’s rural industrialization with township and village enterprises (TVEs) as the main form. Furthermore, this paper takes the government’s policy of prohibiting the circulation of collective construction land from the mid-1990s as the breakthrough point, and uses the “Land Administration Law of China” promulgated in 1998 as a quasi-natural experiment to examine the causal relationship between restricting the circulation of collective construction land and the decline of TVEs. It is found that the restrictions on the circulation of collective construction land caused by the implementation of the law significantly hindered the development of TVEs. After the implementation of the Land Administration Law, in areas affected more by the law, the development scale of their TVEs shrunk even more. The analysis of this paper shows that deepening the reform of the system of property rights on agricultural land and ensuring farmers’ rights of land circulation are important ways to revitalize the rural areas.
Based on the provincial panel data of China from 2001 to 2016, this study uses the social network analysis approach to empirically investigate the characteristics and driving factors of the spatial ...association network of China’s interprovincial renewable energy technology innovation. The findings are as following. 1) The spatial association of China’s interprovincial renewable energy technology innovation exhibits a typical network structure. Moreover, its network density, network hierarchy and network efficiency are 0.3696, 0.6667 and 0.7833 in 2001 and 0.4084, 0.4764 and 0.7044 in 2016, respectively, implying the spatial association network became more and more complex and the interprovincial association strengthened during the sample period. 2) This spatial association network presents a “core-edge” distribution pattern. The positions and roles of various provinces vary greatly in the spatial association network. Specifically, the developed coastal regions such as Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin have a degree centrality, closeness centrality and betweenness centrality of above 75, 80 and 10, respectively, indicating that they always play a central role in the network. However, the northeastern regions and the relatively backward central and western regions such as Heilongjiang, Jilin, Xinjiang, Hainan and Hebei only have a degree centrality, closeness centrality and betweenness centrality of below 20, 55 and 0.1, respectively, indicating that they are at a relatively marginal position. 3) The geographical proximity and the expansion of the differences in economic development level and R&D inputs are conducive to the enhancement of the spatial association of China’s renewable energy technology innovation.
Effectively reducing transportation carbon emissions is greatly significant to achieve the carbon peaking and neutral goals of China. On the basis of considering regional technology heterogeneity, we ...employ the parametric meta-frontier approach to analyze the carbon emission performance and reduction potential of the transportation sector in China. Then, we further decompose the emission reduction potential's contributors into removing management inefficiencies and filling technology gaps. The estimated potential carbon emission reductions from transportation sector in China are 12.3 million tons, accounting for 8.4 % of the annual transportation carbon emissions. Specifically, the eastern regions, especially Shandong, Shanghai, and Liaoning have the greatest carbon emission reduction potential; while Qinghai, Jiangxi, and Ningxia have the smallest potential. As the major contributors to the potential emission reductions, filling technology gaps and removing management inefficiencies account for 57.5 % and 42.5 % of the total potential, respectively. Moreover, removing management inefficiencies dominate for the eastern region and filling technology gaps for the central and western regions. Finally, we provide provincial-specific emission mitigation strategies based on the identification of the reduction potential and its contributors. Our policy implications help decision-makers to facilitate the low-carbon development of transportation sector.
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•The carbon emission performance and reduction potential of the transportation sector in China are explored.•The estimated potential carbon emission reductions from transportation are 12.3 million tons.•Shandong, Shanghai, and Liaoning have the greatest potential, while Qinghai, Jiangxi, and Ningxia have the smallest.•Filling technology gaps and removing management inefficiencies are main contributors of the potential emission reductions.•Provincial-specific emission mitigation strategies for transportation sector are proposed.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Energy poverty has a remarkable impact on socioeconomic development and human health. To identify energy poverty and further explore its influencing factors, this study uses 8239 households from 25 ...provinces from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) as the research object. First, the household energy poverty index (EPI) from 2012 to 2016 is measured. Second, the partially linear functional-coefficient (PLFC) model, which can capture individual heterogeneity, is employed to investigate how renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) alleviates energy poverty, also examining the role of marketization in the alleviation effect. The findings are as follows: (1) RETI significantly alleviates household energy poverty; (2) the alleviation effect of RETI on household EPI is affected by the marketization level (ML). In particular, when the ML is greater than 5.94, the alleviation effect is stronger; (3) under the influence of the ML, the alleviation effect exhibits a significant spatial heterogeneity. The eastern provinces exhibit the most significant alleviation effect. Finally, according to the nonparametric relationship between RETI and the EPI, we propose corresponding policy recommendations to alleviate household energy poverty.
•The household energy poverty of 25 provinces in China is measured.•The renewable energy technology innovation alleviates household energy poverty.•The impact of marketization on this alleviation effect is explored by PLFC model.•The alleviation effect increases when marketization reaches a certain level.•Significant spatial heterogeneity of the alleviation effect exists.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This paper constructs a knowledge-stock indicator to explore the trend of renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) levels across China's provinces during 1997–2015. First, the spatial-temporal ...evolution is analyzed. Second, the convergence characteristics and patterns are identified through the nonlinear time-varying factor model and the relative transition path curves. Third, the drivers of convergence behaviors are examined. The results are as follows: (i) China's RETI experienced a spurt of development. Its spatial pattern has changed significantly, and the average annual growth rate has also shown spatial differences; (ii) China's provincial RETI level was not converged as a whole during the sample period, but exhibited club convergence characteristics. The 30 provinces eventually converged to three clubs with large differences in average RETI level and annual growth rate; (iii) the provinces with a more optimized industrial structure, a greater R&D investment intensity, and a higher environmental regulation intensity tended to converge to the club with a higher innovation level and growth rate.
•Renewable energy technological innovations (RETI) in China are measured.•The development level and growth rate of China's RETI shows significant spatial differences.•Three convergence clubs in terms of RETI are identified.•Factors driving the formation of convergence clubs are investigated.•A collaborative RETI system should be established across China's regions.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This study explores the question of whether building a unified carbon market is a blessing or a curse for enterprises in China under the background of global carbon emission reduction goals. Using ...data on China's A-share listed enterprises and city panel data from 2008 to 2019, we evaluate the effect of China's carbon market pilots, a market-driven environmental regulation policy, on enterprises' total factor productivity (TFP). The findings indicate that the pilot policy promoted enterprises' TFP in the pilot areas by approximately 0.05 on average during the sample period. In particular, the TFP of enterprises in high‑carbon emission industries increased by an average of 0.11. This positive effect is confirmed in the robustness tests. Meanwhile, the effect also is heterogeneous for different regions and enterprises. It depends on enterprise scale, property rights, governance level, financing constraints and registration address. Additionally, the promotion effect works through three channels, including government environmental protection efforts, enterprise resource allocation optimization, and increased investment in R&D. Therefore, building a carbon market is proven to be positive for the development of enterprises. This study enriches the research on pollution control and economic growth and provides policy references for achieving carbon reduction goals.
•The impact of China's carbon market pilots on the total factor productivity (TFP) of enterprises is investigated.•The market-driven environmental regulation promotes the enterprise TFP.•The promotion effect is more significant for enterprises in high-carbon emission industries.•The effect varies with enterprise scale, property rights, governance level, financing constraints and registration address.•The mechanisms are environmental protection efforts, enterprise resource allocation optimization and R&D investment.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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