ABSTRACT
This paper examines the impact of mandatory reporting and auditing of firms’ financial statements on industry‐wide resource allocation. Using threshold‐induced variation in the share of ...mandated firms in a given industry, I document that reporting mandates facilitate ownership dispersion in capital markets and spur competition in product markets. I, however, do not find that reporting mandates unambiguously improve the efficiency of industry‐wide resource allocation. With respect to auditing mandates, I find only that they impose a fixed cost on firms, deterring smaller entrants.
Based on the large scale provincial panel data on in China from 2006 to 2015, this paper uses the directed acyclic graph (DAG) and structure vector autoregrression (SVAR) to study the internal ...dynamic relationship among the environmental regulation, technological innovation and energy efficiency. The results of the DAG analysis confirm the existence of three conduct paths among environmental regulation, technological innovation and energy efficiency. First, the market incentive environmental regulation contributes directly to energy efficiency. Second, the market incentive environmental regulation drives the energy efficiency through technological innovation. Third, the command control environmental regulation contributes directly to energy efficiency. The results of forecast error variance decomposition based on SVAR model corroborate the view that the impacts of the command control environmental regulation and market incentive environmental regulation on energy efficiency have no obvious difference in the short term. In addition, with the extension of the forecast period, the promotion effect of the command control environmental regulation on energy efficiency gradually decreases, whereas the promotion effect of the market incentive environmental regulation on energy efficiency gradually increases. Technological innovation has a significant role in promoting energy efficiency both in the short and the long term. The changes in technological innovation are affected not only by itself, but also by the market incentive environmental regulation, whereas the command control environmental regulation has no obvious impact on technological innovation.
•Directed acyclic graph is used to find the conduct paths of the variables.•SVAR model is used to study the Dynamic Relationship of the variables.•The different effects of Market incentive and command control environmental regulation are studied.•Large-dimensional panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2015 is used.
Golden holocaust Proctor, Robert N
2012., 20120129, 2012, c2011., 2012-02-28, 20110101
eBook
The cigarette is the deadliest artifact in the history of human civilization. It is also one of the most beguiling, thanks to more than a century of manipulation at the hands of tobacco industry ...chemists. In Golden Holocaust, Robert N. Proctor draws on reams of formerly-secret industry documents to explore how the cigarette came to be the most widely-used drug on the planet, with six trillion sticks sold per year. He paints a harrowing picture of tobacco manufacturers conspiring to block the recognition of tobacco-cancer hazards, even as they ensnare legions of scientists and politicians in a web of denial. Proctor tells heretofore untold stories of fraud and subterfuge, and he makes the strongest case to date for a simple yet ambitious remedy: a ban on the manufacture and sale of cigarettes.
Although environmental regulations have been considered as important forces of conducting green innovation, how and under what conditions they affect green innovation are still unclear. Drawing from ...institutional theory, this study used survey data from 237 manufacturing firms in China to investigate how two dimensions of environmental regulations (i.e., command and control regulation and market‐based regulation) affect green product innovation and green process innovation. Further, this article examined the mediating role of external knowledge adoption and the moderating role of green absorptive capacity. Our results indicate that both command and control regulation and market‐based regulation have positive influences on external knowledge adoption. External knowledge adoption fully mediates these positive relationships. In addition, green absorptive capacity only strengthens the positive impact of market‐based regulation on external knowledge adoption. Our study contributes to institutional theory and green innovation literature.
Withania somnifera produces pharmacologically important triterpenoid withanolides that are derived via phytosterol pathway; however, their biosynthesis and regulation remain to be elucidated.
A ...jasmonate- and salicin-inducible WRKY transcription factor from W. somnifera (WsWRKY1) exhibiting correlation with withaferin A accumulation was functionally characterized employing virus-induced gene silencing and overexpression studies combined with transcript and metabolite analyses, and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay.
WsWRKY1 silencing resulted in stunted plant growth, reduced transcripts of phytosterol pathway genes with corresponding reduction in phytosterols and withanolides in W. somnifera. Its overexpression elevated the biosynthesis of triterpenoids in W. somnifera (phytosterols and withanolides), as well as tobacco and tomato (phytosterols). Moreover, WsWRKY1 binds to W-box sequences in promoters of W. somnifera genes encoding squalene synthase and squalene epoxidase, indicating its direct regulation of triterpenoid pathway. Furthermore, while WsWRKY1 silencing in W. somnifera compromised the tolerance to bacterial growth, fungal infection, and insect feeding, its overexpression in tobacco led to improved biotic stress tolerance.
Together these findings demonstrate that WsWRKY1 has a positive regulatory role on phytosterol and withanolides biosynthesis, and defense against biotic stress, highlighting its importance as a metabolic engineering tool for simultaneous improvement of triterpenoid biosynthesis and plant defense.
•This study proposed a complex eco-efficiency system for an economic region, Yangtze river economic Belt, in China.•A notable pattern was identified for each of the two periods: 2008–2012 and ...2013–2016.•The “race to top” occurs more in developed areas, while the “race to bottom” occurs more in the western urban clusters.•Moderate environmental regulation can reduce the harmful influence of green technological innovation.
The contradiction between economic development and environmental protection has become a major concern in many developing countries. To resolve environmental issues, political and technical measures must be considered. However, because of geographical, climatic, and economic differences, ecological issues need to be resolved at the regional level. This study proposes a complex eco-efficiency (EE) system composed of multidimensional components with entropy flows for an economic region, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, in China. There were distinct disparities of eco-efficiency in urban cluster, with the higher efficiency in the central cities and the lower efficiency in the satellite cities. Based on the periodic characteristics of eco-efficiency, two distinct periods, 2008–2012 and 2013–2016, were found. The relationships among environmental regulation (ER), green technological innovation (GTI), and EE varied in different regions and periods because of the “innovative compensation”, “compliance cost”, and “energy rebound” effects. When GTI efficiently improved the EE, inappropriate ER weakened the marginal benefits of GTI. When an “energy rebound effect” occurred, moderate ER was found to assist in reducing the harmful influence of GTI. A “race to the top” phenomenon was found to be more likely in developed areas, while a “race to the bottom” effect was found in the western urban clusters. Differentiated sustainable environmental policies of integrating institutional and free-market approaches are provided.
Globalization critics argue that international trade spurs a race to the bottom among national environmental standards. ISO 14001 is the most widely adopted voluntary environmental regulation which ...encourages firms to take environmental action beyond what domestic government regulations require. Drawing on a panel study of 108 countries over seven years, we investigate conditions under which trade linkages can encourage ISO 14001 adoption, thereby countering environmental races to the bottom. We find that trade linkages encourage ISO 14001 adoption if countries' major export markets have adopted this voluntary regulation.
Summary
The gaseous plant hormone ethylene is produced by a fairly simple two‐step biosynthesis route. Despite this pathway’s simplicity, recent molecular and genetic studies have revealed that the ...regulation of ethylene biosynthesis is far more complex and occurs at different layers. Ethylene production is intimately linked with the homeostasis of its general precursor S‐adenosyl‐l‐methionine (SAM), which experiences transcriptional and posttranslational control of its synthesising enzymes (SAM synthetase), as well as the metabolic flux through the adjacent Yang cycle. Ethylene biosynthesis continues from SAM by two dedicated enzymes: 1‐aminocyclopropane‐1‐carboxylic (ACC) synthase (ACS) and ACC oxidase (ACO). Although the transcriptional dynamics of ACS and ACO have been well documented, the first transcription factors that control ACS and ACO expression have only recently been discovered. Both ACS and ACO display a type‐specific posttranslational regulation that controls protein stability and activity. The nonproteinogenic amino acid ACC also shows a tight level of control through conjugation and translocation. Different players in ACC conjugation and transport have been identified over the years, however their molecular regulation and biological significance is unclear, yet relevant, as ACC can also signal independently of ethylene. In this review, we bring together historical reports and the latest findings on the complex regulation of the ethylene biosynthesis pathway in plants.
This review focuses on the current status of antibiotics use, effects on animal health and the environment, existing policies and regulatory mechanisms in the top 15 producing countries. Fifty papers ...were reviewed and represented the bulk of literature worldwide. We observed that 67 antibiotic compounds were used in 11 of the 15 countries between 2008 and 2018. Among these countries, 73% applied oxytetracycline, sulphadiazine and florfenicol. On average, countries used 15 antibiotics and the top users included Vietnam (39), China (33) and Bangladesh (21). On environmental and health risks, the review revealed sufficient evidence that directly links antibiotics use to food safety, occupational health hazards and antimicrobial resistance. Environmental risks included residue accumulation, aquatic biodiversity toxicity, microbial community selection for antibiotic resistance and the emergence of multi‐antibacterial resistant strains. Regarding policies, major players were the European Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency, Norwegian Veterinary Institute, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, Codex and government ministries. In particular, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority and Norwegian Veterinary Institute demonstrated the most outstanding regulation mechanisms of antibiotics use in aquaculture that needs to be emulated. The future of aquaculture lies in guaranteeing the supply of safe aquatic products to the growing consumer market. Thus, international coordination of the policy and regulatory environment is needed, while increased investment in research for alternative aquatic health management strategies is essential. Future technologies should focus on the reduction of antibiotics use to safeguard the environment and ensure safety of consumers, feed industry and aquaculture workers.
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control makes a number of recommendations aimed at restricting the marketing of tobacco products. Tobacco industry political activity has been identified as an ...obstacle to Parties' development and implementation of these provisions. This study systematically reviews the existing literature on tobacco industry efforts to influence marketing regulations and develops taxonomies of 1) industry strategies and tactics and 2) industry frames and arguments.
Searches were conducted between April-July 2011, and updated in March 2013. Articles were included if they made reference to tobacco industry efforts to influence marketing regulations; supported claims with verifiable evidence; were written in English; and concerned the period 1990-2013. 48 articles met the review criteria. Narrative synthesis was used to combine the evidence.
56% of articles focused on activity in North America, Europe or Australasia, the rest focusing on Asia (17%), South America, Africa or transnational activity. Six main political strategies and four main frames were identified. The tobacco industry frequently claims that the proposed policy will have negative unintended consequences, that there are legal barriers to regulation, and that the regulation is unnecessary because, for example, industry does not market to youth or adheres to a voluntary code. The industry primarily conveys these arguments through direct and indirect lobbying, the promotion of voluntary codes and alternative policies, and the formation of alliances with other industrial sectors. The majority of tactics and arguments were used in multiple jurisdictions.
Tobacco industry political activity is far more diverse than suggested by existing taxonomies of corporate political activity. Tactics and arguments are repeated across jurisdictions, suggesting that the taxonomies of industry tactics and arguments developed in this paper are generalisable to multiple jurisdictions and can be used to predict industry activity.
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