From principal component analysis (PCA) of 2011–2019 panel data for 108 cities along China's Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), this article reports findings on digital economy (DIE) and green ...development efficiency (GDE). We used a stochastic nonparametric envelopment of data (stoNED) model to measure green development efficiency and a mediating effect model to test the impact of DIE on GDE. We also assessed its mechanisms from a Chinese perspective, finding that (1) DIE significantly promotes GDE in China. (2) Moreover, DIE promotes the GDE in YREB through technological innovation, through the accumulation of human capital and, through upgrades to industrial structures. (3) Furthermore, DIE has heterogeneous effects on GDE. DIE in upstream and downstream regions and in large- scale cities and medium-scale cities can improve GDE, while the effect of DIE in midstream and small-scale cities is not obvious. These results contribute empirical support and a decision-making basis for promoting the win-win situation where DIE and GDE work together. We recommend speeding up the construction and improvement of digital infrastructure, enhancing the enabling capacity of DIE, and implementing a differentiated DIE strategy.
•Examines the direct and indirect effects of DIE to GDE.•Adopt panel data for 108 cities along Yangtze River Economic Belt in 2011–2020.•Channels are technological innovation, human capital, industrial structure upgrading.
The implementation of China's carbon emission trading policy has targeted achieving emission reduction and environmental protection as well as promoting economic development and technological ...innovation. The analysis is made through applying the Difference-in-Differences model and using the Ordinary Least Squares method and the Least Square Dummy Variable method in the paper. Results show that the pilot carbon emission trading policy leads to the expansion of employment scales and the reduction of carbon emissions after controlling for the environmental regulation, population size, economic level, and other important variables. Thus, it implies that an employment double dividend exists. For the Porter effect, it is found in the pilot carbon emission trading policy only without adding any control variable. The effect is further verified based on a robustness checks and a placebo test. Furthermore, from the perspective of market-oriented environmental regulation policy, this study explains that the carbon emission trading system launched in 2017 needs to be improved to spread both the employment double dividend and the Porter effect to the whole nation. China also needs to form a complete set of strict ecological environment protection policies and administrative measures to achieve sustainable development of the economy.
•The Difference-in-Differences model and LSDV method were applied for the analysis.•An employment double dividend effect is found in China's carbon trading policy.•Porter effect is found only without adding any control variable.•Improving China's national carbon emissions trading system is needed.
The energy resources of Central Asia and the Caucasus have drawn significant scholarly attention due to their geopolitical importance and role in regional economic development. Western multilateral ...development banks (MDBs), such as the World Bank and the EBRD, have been the leading actors shaping norms and practices for lending to the energy sectors of these regions. China has also recently emerged as the top investor in hydrocarbons and renewables in Central Asia, at the same time increasing its presence in the Caucasus. How have Western MDBs and China shaped each other's lending practices? By exploring the what and the how of development finance in the energy sectors of Central Asia and the Caucasus, this study argues that a dual transformation is under way. The World Bank and the EBRD are now working closely with key local stakeholders in the recipient states to make energy reforms more successful. China, on the other hand, is now cooperating more closely with Western MDBs, and accepting and implementing some of their market principles and environmental targets. The article demonstrates that the West vs. China dichotomy based on neoliberalism vs. state-capitalism is blurred and the post-Soviet energy sector includes features of both models.
This study is an endeavour to analyse the influence of oil price shocks on the macroeconomy of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, KSA, Oman, Qatar and UAE). By ...employing a structural Vector auto-regression (SVAR) model for period 1980–2016, our key findings suggest that there are significant positive effects of oil price shocks on the GDP, inflation and trade balance of those countries. The findings, however, show substantial heterogeneities in the responses of the GCC members to oil shocks, which suggests the presence of idiosyncrasies in the underlying structure of their economies and differences in the degree to which these economies are dependent on oil revenues. In terms of inflation, there are also major differences in the intensity of the impact of oil shocks on the overall price, which implies that the GCC monetary policies might face a different genre of challenges to attain price stability in the face of those shocks. Our findings have profound policy implications in terms of diversifying the economies of the GCC countries and efforts to decrease the sole dependence on oil revenues.
•Significant & positive effects of oil price shocks on the GDP, Inflation and Trade balance of the GCC countries.•Substantial heterogeneities in the response of the GCC member.•Idiosyncrasy in the structural underlying economies and differences in oil dependence.•Monetary policy in GCC may face different genre of challenges to price stability in the face of oil shocks.•Implications in terms of diversifying the economies of the GCC countries.
At present, the digital economy, which takes information technology and data as the key elements, is booming and has become an important force in promoting the economic growth of various countries. ...In order to explore the current dynamic trend of China's digital economy development and the impact of the digital economy on the high-quality economic development, this paper measures the digital economic development index of 30 cities in China from the three dimensions of digital infrastructure, digital industry, and digital integration, uses panel data of 30 cities in China from 2015 to 2019 to construct an econometric model for empirical analysis, and verifies the mediating effect of technological progress between the digital economy and high-quality economic development. The results show that (1) The development level of China's digital economy is increasing year by year, that the growth of digital infrastructure is obvious, and that the development of the digital industry is relatively slow. (2) Digital infrastructure, digital industry and digital integration all have significant positive effects on regional total factor productivity, and the influence coefficients are 0.2452, 0.0773 and 0.3458 respectively. (3) Regarding the transmission mechanism from the digital economy to the high-quality economic development, the study finds that the mediating effect of technological progress is 0.1527, of which the mediating effect of technological progress in the eastern, northeast, central and western regions is 1.70%, 9.25%, 28.89% and 21.22% respectively. (4) From the perspective of spatial distribution, the development level of the digital economy in the eastern region is much higher than that in other non-eastern regions, and the development of digital economy in the eastern region has a higher marginal contribution rate to the improvement of the total factor productivity. This study can provide a theoretical basis and practical support for the government to formulate policies for the development of the digital economy.
Previous studies evaluating the welfare cost of air pollution have not paid much attention to its potential effect on mental health and subjective well-being (SWB). This paper attempts to fill the ...gap by investigating the impact of air pollution on several key dimensions, including mental health status, depressive symptoms, moment-to-moment happiness, and evaluative happiness. We match a nationwide longitudinal survey in China with local air quality and rich weather conditions according to the exact time and place of survey. By making use of variations in exposure to air pollution for the same individuals over time, we show that air pollution reduces hedonic happiness and increases the rate of depressive symptoms, while life satisfaction has little to do with the immediate air quality. Our results shed light on air pollution as an important contributor to the Easterlin paradox that economic growth may not bring more happiness.
•Infrastructure is a diverse concept; different types do not uniformly affect the relationship between conflict and health.•We employ data from sub-Saharan Africa to evaluate how types of ...infrastructure moderate the effect of conflict on health.•More developed physical infrastructure mitigates the effect of conflict on health.•Living in remote areas with higher food production may confer health protection from conflict.
Conflict undermines health. But infrastructure, such as transportation networks, hospitals, and markets, can moderate the effects of conflict on health. We make two primary contributions to this established observation. First, we disentangle important differences in the roles that three types of infrastructure play in moderating the effect of conflict on health. Second, we evaluate conflict intensity as a continuous measure, capturing how different types of infrastructure could protect health in conflict-affected areas. We merge geocoded conflict and infrastructure metrics with individual-level child health data as a marker of societal well-being which is particularly sensitive to conflict. Our results, which cover 29 Sub-Saharan African states between 2000 and 2018, indicate that physical infrastructure ameliorates the effects of conflict on health. However, living in remote areas with higher food production also confers significant protection from conflict. This empirical pattern presents a policy challenge since increasing access to markets and reducing the degree of subsistence agriculture is associated with health improvement and economic development over time. Living in more populated areas comes with both substantial health benefits and risks. These effects are likely to become more complex as countries in Sub-Saharan Africa continue to urbanize.
We tested the role of urbanization in the conventional Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) of Turkey's developing economy and rapid urbanization. The effects of an increase in carbon dioxide emissions ...were due to the usage of fuel oil and other traditional energy consumption patterns related to urban development. Based on our findings, we suggest that the EKC of Turkey is not an inverted U-shape. Thus, adapting of alternative and clean energy systems is necessary and unavoidable in Turkey, and Turkish authorities should consider renewable and alternative uses of energy to sustain a stable EKC.
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