Search Results (10)

Upon the implementation of the European Union Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), substantial challenges are anticipated to impact the international trade of Chinese steel products. To safeguard the competitiveness of Chinese steel products on the global stage, this paper establishes a tripartite evolutionary game model, involving large steel enterprises, small- and medium-sized steel enterprises, and the government. The model integrates collaborative emission reduction and free-riding benefits among enterprises, along with the government’s dynamic subsidies and penalties. First, we calculate the replicator dynamic equations and conduct stability analysis to obtain the evolutionary trends and system equilibrium points in different phases of the CBAM. Then, we validate the evolutionary theoretical analysis of the model through example simulation analysis. Finally, we explore the impact of different parameters on the agents through a sensitivity analysis of parameters. The findings indicate that (1) large enterprises demonstrate greater sensitivity to CBAM, making their production structures more susceptible to changes in CBAM policies; (2) small- and medium-sized enterprises are more prone to free-riding behavior influence; (3) government intervention should be kept within appropriate boundaries, as excessive intervention may lead to strategic oscillation, with passive management being chosen by the government during the strengthening phase of CBAM; (4) elevating the price in the Chinese carbon market would slow down the structural changes in the production of Chinese steel enterprises, serving as an effective measure to counteract the impacts of CBAM. This paper provides theoretical support for how steel enterprises and the government can respond to CBAM, aiding stakeholders in selecting optimal strategies during different implementation stages and mitigating the impacts of the CBAM to the maximum extent possible. Full article

Green innovation is an important step for enterprises in heavy polluting industries to break through the original crude development model and make the leap to sustainable operation. As important decision makers, executives’ home country identification affects their environmental awareness motivation and resource access advantage. Based on the dual perspective of conscious motivation and resource access, this paper aims to investigate the influence mechanism and boundary conditions of executives’ hometown identity on green innovation of enterprises in heavy polluting industries. Using a sample of listed companies in the heavy polluting industry in Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares from 2013 to 2020, a theoretical exploration and an empirical analysis of this relationship is conducted based on the fusion of the framework of geographic dependency theory and social identity theory. This study finds that executive hometown identity promotes corporate green innovation and is more significant in private enterprises. The results of the mechanism test show that hometown identity mainly contributes to the implementation of green innovation in terms of both executive awareness motivation (environmental awareness) and corporate resource acquisition (government subsidies), but the latter is only significant in private enterprises. Further analysis reveals that the relationship between hometown identity and green innovation is weakened by executive corporate-associated capital, while government-associated capital shows an enhanced effect on the relationship, but only in the private enterprises; redundant resources play a positive moderating role in the relationship between executive hometown identity and corporate green innovation. The findings of this study provide a theoretical basis and managerial insights into the green innovation practices of firms in heavy polluting industries under the informal system. Full article

This paper constructs a counterfactual framework based on the opening-up policies of provinces in the eastern coastal region. It analyzes the role of the political hierarchy of the opening-up policy in China’s carbon reduction at the county level by using Spatial Regression Discontinuity, and the data used are from 1997 to 2017. The study found the following: (1) The improvement of the political hierarchy of the opening-up policy is negatively related to the carbon reduction, which has significantly boosted the carbon emission of counties in the eastern coastal areas of China. (2) The impact on border counties is more significant, and there is an obvious boundary effect. In terms of net carbon emissions, the political-hierarchy difference has a significant impact only in the area adjacent to the border. (3) There is strong heterogeneity among provinces, showing the boundary jump effect and boundary depression effect. (4) The political-hierarchy differences are significantly related to the regional carbon reduction by changing policy intensity, resulting in fiscal subsidies effects and gradient transfer effects. The location selection for the implementation of the opening-up policy significantly impacted the carbon reductions. Full article

This study proposes a mathematical modeling approach for the physical capital diffusion through the borders of countries. Physical capital is considered a crucial variable for the economic growth of a nation. Here, we use an extension of the economic Solow model to describe how smuggling affects the economic growth of countries. In particular, we focus on the situation in Venezuela from 2012 to 2015. In this regard, we rely on a nonconcave production function instead of the classical Cobb–Douglas production function. Moreover, we investigate the effect of different physical capital fluxes on economic growth. The physical capital diffusion through the borders of a country is modeled based on a parabolic partial differential equation describing the dynamics of physical capital and boundary conditions of the Neumann type. Smuggling is present at numerous borders between countries and may include fuel, machinery, and food. This smuggling through the borders places challenges on a particular country’s economy. The smuggling problem usually is related to a non-official exchange rate different from the official rate or subsidies. We study the effect of smuggling on the physical capital of a country using an extended Solow model. Numerical simulations are obtained using an explicit finite difference scheme describing how the physical capital diffusion through the border of a country affects its economic growth. The study of physical capital is a paramount aspect of the economic growth of several countries. The results show that when boundary conditions of Neumann type are different from zero, the dynamics of the physical capital differ from the classical economic behavior observed in the classical spatial Solow model without physical capital flux through the borders of countries. In particular, the numerical results show that the physical capital of a country decreases faster as the flux increases on the boundaries. Thus, we can conclude that avoiding smuggling through the frontiers is a crucial factor affecting economic growth. Full article

Relationship between innovation subsidies and corporate strategic choices has been extensively studied. Public innovation subsidies are by no means a certain value, existing in the form of an effective range instead. This means that the public innovation subsidies existing within the reasonable range can achieve the same incentive effect. So, what is the reasonable range or the effective boundaries of public innovation subsidies to promote enterprises that adopt cooperation strategies? There is no definite answer. Based on classical game theory, a stochastic evolutionary game model is proposed in this paper, which takes into account the influence of random disturbance on the strategy evolution process. An effective boundary of public innovation subsidy is provided as the main contribution based on a mature game scenario. A set of experimental data is subsequently selected as the sample for numerical simulation and result verification. The results showed that the probability of noncooperation within the effective value range will successfully converge to zero, which also means that the agents will adopt a collaborative cooperation strategy. The regulation effect of the combination of multiple variables is also discussed. Full article

Theoretical research finds that environmental regulation has both positive and negative effects on enterprise productivity. Based on the Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction policy implemented by the Chinese government, this study empirically analyzed the policy treatment level boundary condition of the positive and negative effects that dominated and its moderating factors. The generalized propensity score matching model (GPSM) was used to analyze the net effect of the policy on the total factor productivity (TFP) of Chinese manufacturing enterprises. The results showed that: (1) the low treatment level of the policy can promote the growth of the enterprises’ TFP; (2) in contrast, the treatment level of the policy exceeded a certain threshold, which gradually led to an inhibitory effect on the enterprises’ TFP; (3) the mechanism used to enforce the policy caused the enterprises to innovate, which enhanced their TFP, but took time to gradually release; (4) the enterprises with a stronger capacity for innovation or a larger size found it easier to transform the pressure from the policy into an innovative impetus to improve their TFP; (5) however, the government subsidies distorted the forced-innovation effect of the policy on the enterprises’ innovation, which restrained the positive effect of the policy on the TFP. Full article

The introduction of third-party governance models for the treatment of soil heavy metal pollution has promoted the marketization, professionalization, and efficiency of pollution treatment, but also can result in distortions of relevant stakeholder relationships and conflicts of interest. The game relationship among the government, soil-polluting companies, and third-party governance companies may solve the practical dilemma of comprehensive management of soil heavy metal pollution and establish a good cooperative mechanism. We constructed a three-party evolutionary game model to analyze the interaction mechanism of each agent’s strategy choice as well as the evolution of each agent’s strategy choice under different parameter trends and simulation analyses. The research showed that the amount of fines and supervision costs, rent-seeking costs and governance costs, and government subsidies and rent-seeking benefits were key factors affecting the evolution and stability strategies of government departments, soil-polluting companies, and third-party governance companies. By cooperating with third-party governance companies, the government can effectively suppress the improper behavior of soil-polluting companies. The conclusions of the study are helpful to broaden the research boundary of soil heavy metal pollution treatment and provide theoretical guidance for the treatment of soil heavy metal pollution in China. Full article

During the heating period in Northeast China, the electricity generated by Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants has caused a large amount of wind power curtailment. To avoid this curtailment, Heat Storages (HS) and Electric Boilers (EB) are being widely applied to CHP plants. However, the effectiveness of HS and EB on the curtailment of wind power has still not been well evaluated. This paper proposes a new evaluation method consisting of an operation boundary model and an internal coordinated operation model for each flexible CHP plant with HS and EB. Then a system power balance model based on hour-by-hour analysis is established to determine the wind power integration, down-regulation subsidy and the utilization degree of the flexible equipment. The models are validated by using field measured data of a province in China. The results show that the capacity change of the EB has a bigger impact on the down-regulation subsidy than that of the HS, while the EB is more effective when the level of wind power integration is high. Full article

The world’s oceans face unprecedented anthropogenic threats in the globalized era that originate from all over the world, including climate change, global trade and transportation, and pollution. Marine protected areas (MPAs) serve important roles in conservation of marine biodiversity and ecosystem resilience, but their success is increasingly challenged in the face of such large-scale threats. Here, we illustrate the utility of adopting the interdisciplinary telecoupling framework to better understand effects that originate from distant places and cross MPA boundaries (e.g., polluted water circulation, anthropogenic noise transport, human and animal migration). We review evidence of distal processes affecting MPAs and the cutting-edge approaches currently used to investigate these processes. We then introduce the umbrella framework of telecoupling and explain how it can help address knowledge gaps that exist due to limitations of past approaches that are centered within individual disciplines. We then synthesize five examples from the recent telecoupling literature to explore how the telecoupling framework can be used for MPA research. These examples include the spatial subsidies approach, adapted social network analysis, telecoupled qualitative analysis, telecoupled supply chain analysis, and decision support tools for telecoupling. Our work highlights the potential for the telecoupling framework to better understand and address the mounting and interconnected socioeconomic and environmental sustainability challenges faced by the growing number of MPAs around the world. Full article

Investments in public transit infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean often aim to reduce spatial and social inequalities by improving accessibility to jobs and other opportunities for vulnerable populations. One of the central goals of Lima’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project was to connect low-income populations living in the peripheries to jobs in the city center, a policy objective that has not yet been evaluated. Building on secondary datasets of employment, household socio-demographics and origin–destination surveys before and after the BRT began operations, this paper examines the contribution of Lima’s BRT system to accessibility to employment in the city, particularly for low-income public transit users. We estimated the effects on potential accessibility to employment, comparing impacts on lower versus higher income populations, and assessed the changes in location-based accessibility to employment before (2004) and after implementation (2012) for treatment and comparison groups. We found that the BRT line reduced travel times for commuters to reach jobs, in comparison with traditional public transport in the city. However, the coverage of the BRT declines in areas with high concentrations of poor populations, limiting the equitability of accessibility improvements. The analysis by socioeconomic sub-groups found positive effects of the BRT system on accessibility for the higher income areas. Relative to the control group, accessibility increased in the 10-km boundary area of the BRT by 0.01, a seven percent increase relative to the treatment baseline accessibility index in the higher socioeconomic (SES) areas of the city. In contrast, in the areas with high concentrations of lower SES populations, the double difference estimate indicated an 11 percent decrease relative to the baseline accessibility index (0.09). We build on case-specific findings and international literature to reflect on policy avenues to include the poor in the mobility benefits of BRT systems. These measures include targeted fare subsidies for low-income groups, fare integration with other forms of public transport that reduce the cost of transfers, and the increase of coverage of the BRT through the integration of stations with non-motorized infrastructure. Full article