Search Results (3,575)

We exploit the staggered rollout of the Standard Land Reform across Chinese cities as a quasi-natural experiment to examine its impact on enterprise innovation efficiency. Using a sample of A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2020, we find that the reform significantly increases enterprise-level innovation efficiency by approximately 4.86%. This result remains robust across a series of robustness checks. Mechanism analyses reveal that the reform promotes innovation through reducing transaction costs, increasing fiscal subsidies, and strengthening regional intellectual property protection. Heterogeneity analyses show that the effect is more pronounced for enterprises with higher financing constraints, higher human capital, and greater media attention, as well as in more competitive industries and regions with stronger intellectual property protection. Our findings provide enterprise-level causal evidence that improving land allocation efficiency can foster enterprise innovation, offering policy implications for leveraging institutional reforms in land allocation to promote innovation-driven development. Full article

Firms both influence natural systems and depend on the ecosystem services that support their ongoing production and operations. A higher degree of such dependence may strengthen firms’ motivation to pursue green technologies aimed at conserving resources, limiting pollution, and mitigating nature-related operational exposure. Drawing on a panel of Chinese A-share firms observed during 2010–2023, we examine how firm-level nature dependence relates to corporate green innovation. The empirical evidence indicates that firms with stronger dependence on nature exhibit greater green innovation activity. This finding remains stable when the key variables are measured differently and when an alternative sample period is considered. A policy shock analysis based on China’s Water Resource Tax Reform provides complementary evidence. Further analysis indicates that environmental investment accounts for part of the link between nature dependence and green innovation. Moreover, stronger local environmental regulation amplifies this relationship. Tests across different firm groups, together with formal interaction tests, show a stronger association among state-owned enterprises and firms in heavily polluting industries. The study therefore adds to prior research on corporate reliance on nature by demonstrating that reliance on ecosystem services can stimulate firms to undertake green technological adjustments. Full article

Against the backdrop of digital transformation, enterprises take digital orientation as a strategic foundation and compete for standard-setting authority to gain core competitive advantages. Although prior research indicates that digital orientation positively influences innovation, research on how digital orientation affects technology standard innovation remains limited. Technology standard innovation under digital practices is more complex and knowledge-intensive than that in the traditional industrial era. The mechanism by which digital orientation drives technology standard innovation requires more attention. Drawing upon strategic management theory and resource orchestration theory, this study proposes a serial mediation model to reveal how digital orientation influences technology standard innovation. We collected survey data from 480 Chinese enterprises via questionnaires and tested the model using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results indicated that digital orientation has a significant positive impact on technology standard innovation; organizational unlearning and knowledge re-orchestration play a serial mediating role in this relationship; and knowledge inertia negatively moderates the relationship between organizational unlearning and knowledge re-orchestration. This study offers insights for traditional enterprises establishing efficient organizational change and knowledge management mechanisms to gain standard influence and innovation benefits. Full article

This study examines whether firms’ digital adaptation practices were associated with crisis-related innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey COVID-19 module for Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Malta, the paper analyzes three crisis-driven digital adaptation practices: online business activity, delivery or carry-out services, and remote work arrangements. We also examine the breadth of digital adaptation using an additive index capturing the number of practices adopted. The results show that all three digital adaptation practices are positively and statistically significantly associated with crisis-related innovation. The digital adaptation index is also positively associated with innovation, indicating that firms adopting a broader set of digital practices were more likely to report introducing new or improved products or services in response to COVID-19. These relationships remain robust among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We further examine whether government digital support moderates the relationship between digital adaptation and innovation, but due to small sample size, the results are suggestive and not robust across estimation methods. Overall, the findings provide firm-level evidence on the relationship between crisis-driven digital adaptation and firms’ capacity to innovate during a major disruption in selected MENA economies. Full article

Amid the global energy transition, whether city-level energy policies can improve firm-level sustainability remains insufficiently understood. Using panel data on Chinese A-share listed firms from 2009 to 2023, this study examines the relationship between China’s New Energy Demonstration City (NEDC) Pilot Policy and corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance within a difference-in-differences framework. The results show that firms registered in pilot cities experienced greater post-designation improvements in ESG performance than firms in non-pilot cities, and this finding remains robust across a range of identification and sensitivity analyses. Channel analyses provide evidence consistent with green technological innovation and improved external financing conditions as two potential firm-level channels associated with the NEDC–ESG relationship. The estimated relationship is more pronounced among firms with greater analyst coverage, non-state-owned enterprises, and high-tech firms, as well as among firms located in the eastern and central regions and in areas with stronger pre-existing environmental regulation. Dimension-specific analyses yield positive and statistically significant estimates for environmental and governance performance, but not for social performance. Distance-band estimates further suggest localized spillovers to nearby non-pilot firms. These findings extend the evidence on the firm-level consequences of city-level energy-transition policies and highlight the roles of firm characteristics, local institutional conditions, and external information environments in shaping corporate sustainability responses. Full article

Ecuadorian aquaculture plays an increasingly important role in food security, providing a sustainable complement to capture fisheries. Manabí constitutes a key economic sector that contributes to employment generation, income diversification, and supply of high-quality protein. However, the sector’s heterogeneity and limited legal registration of enterprises hinder the development of policies and targeted interventions. This study characterizes aquaculture enterprises in Manabí, integrating productive, technological, and socio-economic variables obtained from field surveys. Three distinct entrepreneurship patterns were identified: small-scale, informal farms cultivating native species with low technology but characteristics that may contribute to socio-ecological resilience; semi-formal producers operating with intermediate technology and mixed species; and freshwater shrimp farms operating at the largest relative scale within the sample, though still small-scale and family-based, with moderate technological development and market integration limited mainly to local and regional markets. The typology focused on a gradient in formalization, technological sophistication, and market orientation among enterprises. These findings provide a comprehensive understanding of aquaculture diversity in Manabí and offer a practical framework for differentiated policy design using a Strategic Producer Positioning Map. Strengthening formalization, technological innovation, environmental management, and social inclusion is essential to enhance the sector’s sustainability and competitiveness, contributing to sustainable blue economy development in coastal Ecuador. Full article

This paper uses panel data from 30 Chinese provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) for the period 2007–2024. It examines the impact of the agglomeration of high-end talent on regional innovation efficiency and its underlying mechanisms, based on the theory of external economies of talent agglomeration. Additionally, it analyzes regional heterogeneity and heterogeneity across innovation actors. The study finds that the agglomeration of high-end talent exerts a significant positive effect on regional innovation efficiency, exhibiting a nonlinear inverted U-shaped relationship. These findings hold even after addressing endogeneity issues and conducting various robustness tests. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the agglomeration of high-end talent has a more pronounced positive effect on regional innovation efficiency, particularly in the eastern and western regions and in universities and research institutions; however, the optimal agglomeration level in the western region is lower than that in the eastern region. The agglomeration of high-end talent in central regions and in enterprises above a certain scale fails to significantly enhance regional innovation efficiency. The agglomeration of high-end talent positively affects regional innovation efficiency in highly marketized regions, but such an effect is not observed in regions with low marketization. The results of mediation analysis suggest that high-end talent agglomeration fosters regional innovation efficiency by facilitating knowledge spillovers and collaborative industry–university–research activities. The above research not only confirms the positive impact of the agglomeration of high-end talent on regional innovation efficiency but also provides policy recommendations for local governments regarding talent development and regional mobility. It holds practical significance for achieving major strategic goals such as building a science and technology powerhouse, a talent powerhouse, and sustainable development. Full article

Enhancing the resilience of renewable energy enterprises is crucial for advancing the energy revolution and building a clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient energy system. Against the background of an accelerating energy transition and rising external uncertainty, renewable energy enterprises face multiple challenges, including technological iteration, policy adjustments, and market fluctuations. Thus, enhancing enterprise resilience through digital transformation has become a key issue for promoting high-quality development in the energy industry. Using a sample of Chinese A-share listed renewable energy companies covering the period 2014–2024, this study empirically examines the impact of digital transformation on the resilience of these enterprises and the underlying mechanisms. The results show that digital transformation can significantly enhance enterprise resilience, a finding that remains robust after a series of robustness tests. Mechanism analysis indicates that digital transformation enhances resilience mainly by alleviating financing constraints, optimizing resource allocation, and improving innovation quality. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals that the resilience-enhancing effect of digital transformation varies across enterprises of different sizes and life-cycle stages. This paper provides empirical evidence that renewable energy enterprises can rely on digital technologies to strengthen their risk resilience and improve their sustainable development. Full article

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) increasingly use artificial intelligence (AI)-based customer tools and social media marketing to compete in digital markets. However, prior research has not fully explained how customer-facing digital interaction and strategic customer sensing are converted into internal organisational capabilities or how alternative combinations of capabilities lead to business sustainability. In this study, we develop and test a sequential mixed-method framework for Thai SMEs. In Phase I, we applied the Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Delphi Method (IT2FDM) with 21 experts to validate 43 observed variables. In Phase II, we analysed 659 Thai SME responses using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). The PLS-SEM measurement assessment showed that service innovation and internal learning formed a consolidated service innovation–internal learning capability (SILC) construct, with 42 indicators retained in the final measurement model. The structural model supported all hypothesised paths: AI chatbot usage, social media marketing, and customer value anticipation were positively associated with SILC; SILC was positively associated with external learning, business performance, and business sustainability; external learning was positively associated with business performance; and business performance was positively associated with business sustainability. The fsQCA results showed that no single present or absent/low condition was necessary for business sustainability and identified three sufficient pathways, with SILC and business performance present across all primary configurations. One pathway further showed that strong SILC, external learning, and business performance could support business sustainability even when AI chatbot usage, social media marketing, and customer value anticipation were weak or absent. The findings advance SME digital transformation and sustainability research by demonstrating capability conversion, integrated innovation–learning transformation, and multiple compensatory pathways to business sustainability. Full article

Empty cup aroma is a distinctive quality attribute of soy sauce aroma type baijiu (SSB), but the compounds responsible for its long persistence and their changes over time are still not well understood. Previous studies have mainly focused on key empty cup odourants at single time points. In this study, a typical commercial SSB was selected and monitored for 30 days using aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA), time-resolved odour monitoring, residue peak area analysis and correlation with boiling point. AEDA revealed 65 aroma-active regions, including 63 in SSB, 36 in the empty cup and 34 shared by both. After emptying, the flavour dilution profile changed markedly: fruity esters and volatile aldehydes became less prominent, whereas sotolon showed the highest FD factor in the empty cup (FD 2048), and several acids and pyrazines also became prominent. The number of detectable regions increased from 43 at 0 h to 49 at 6 h, and then gradually decreased to 14 at day 30. Persistence was strongly correlated with boiling point (Spearman’s ρ = 0.7465, p < 0.0001, n = 32). Peak area profiles also showed two general patterns. Low-boiling esters, aldehydes and dimethyl trisulfide decreased rapidly, whereas organic acids, pyrazines, phenylethyl alcohol, γ-nonanolactone and ethyl hexadecanoate showed delayed maxima or non-monotonic changes. These results suggest that persistent empty cup aroma is not simply a residual form of the original baijiu aroma but develops through selective retention and temporal shifts in the contribution of different odourants. Full article

Against a backdrop of tightening environmental regulations and escalating climate-related risks, the construction sector faces mounting pressure to improve both its sustainability performance and long-term resilience. As a market-oriented institutional tool, green finance policy has been widely identified as a pivotal lever for advancing corporate green innovation; nevertheless, its causal impact on green innovation in construction enterprises—an essential foundation for sustained industry resilience—has Iyet to be fully examined in empirical research. Capitalizing on the exogenous variation introduced by China’s Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot Zone (GFRIPZ) initiative, this study investigates 105 construction enterprises listed on the Chinese stock market from 2010 to 2020. Employing a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) estimation strategy, we find that the GFRIPZ initiative significantly boosts green innovation among construction enterprises. This positive association persists after a series of robustness assessments. Channel analysis identifies financing conditions as a key pathway linking the GFRIPZ initiative to green innovation. Reduced financing frictions allow construction enterprises to increase investment in environmentally oriented technological activities. Additional sub-sample analysis corroborates that the GFRIPZ policy exerts a far more salient innovation incentive effect on non-state-owned construction firms, which aligns with the stronger impetus for in-house R&D under competitive market conditions. These findings offer empirical evidence that well-designed green finance policies can serve as effective institutional enablers of green innovation, thereby contributing to the sustainable resilience of the construction sector. The findings offer actionable guidance for regulators on incorporating financial instruments into governance frameworks that support sustainable construction. Full article

Building resilient manufacturing industrial chains while advancing low-carbon transformation is an important issue for sustainable development. This study examines the relationships among configurations of command-and-control, market-incentive, voluntary, and implicit environmental regulation, green technological innovation, and manufacturing industrial chain resilience across 31 provincial-level administrative regions in China. We combine fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis with a complex mediation model. The former identifies environmental regulation configurations associated with high green technological innovation, while the latter examines their relationships with manufacturing industrial chain resilience and the mediating role of green technological innovation. Resilience is measured from the dimensions of entity resilience and structural resilience. The results show that no single type of environmental regulation is necessary for high green technological innovation. Three configurations are identified: the “government–enterprise-driven,” “enterprise–society synergistic,” and “policy–society co-promotion” configurations. Among them, the first two are significantly and positively associated with manufacturing industrial chain resilience, with green technological innovation partially mediating both relationships. When voluntary environmental regulation is a core present condition in both configurations, the mediating role of green technological innovation is more pronounced in the government–enterprise-driven configuration. The findings indicate that coordinating multiple forms of environmental regulation is important for promoting green technological innovation and strengthening manufacturing industrial chain resilience. Full article

Under the guidance of China’s “dual carbon” goals, the importance of carbon information disclosure in textile and apparel enterprises has become increasingly prominent, and its mechanism for enhancing corporate innovation behavior requires further clarification. Based on regression analysis, this study examines listed textile and apparel companies in China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets from 2012 to 2024 using a fixed-effects model to empirically test the impact of carbon information disclosure intensity on corporate innovation behavior and its underlying mechanisms. The results demonstrate that increased carbon information disclosure intensity significantly promotes growth in corporate innovation behavior, a core conclusion that remains valid even after conducting a series of robustness tests addressing endogeneity issues. Mechanistic analysis reveals that the positive driving effect of carbon information disclosure intensity on innovation behavior is weakened by investor attention, with investor focus playing a negative moderating role in this relationship: high-quality carbon information disclosure should enhance innovation by reducing information asymmetry; however, under heightened investor scrutiny, short-term investment orientation and management pressure for immediate performance may distort this transmission pathway, thereby inhibiting innovation promotion. Heterogeneity analysis further shows significant differences in the impact of carbon information disclosure intensity on innovation behavior across textile and apparel firms with varying ownership structures and industry categories. This study provides theoretical foundations and practical guidance for advancing carbon information disclosure practices in the textile and apparel sector, guiding investor focus appropriately, and fostering corporate innovation development. Full article

Industry 5.0 reframes industrial transformation as a human-centric, sustainable and resilient socio-technical transition. Yet comparable country-level evidence on the capabilities that enable this transition remains limited, particularly for late-digitalizing economies. This study benchmarks Türkiye against the 27 European Union member states using a systems-informed multi-criteria decision-making framework. Seven indicators represent three complementary capability domains: enterprise digitalization (artificial intelligence, cloud computing, data analytics and enterprise resource planning), human capability (basic or above-basic digital skills) and innovation capacity (R&D expenditure and high-technology exports). CRITIC–MARCOS is used as the primary model, while the full 2 × 2 combination of CRITIC and Entropy weighting with MARCOS and TOPSIS ranking, equal-domain weighting and indicator-exclusion tests assess sensitivity. Türkiye ranks 28th under CRITIC–MARCOS and remains between 26th and 28th across the principal specifications. Pairwise rank correlations range from 0.932 to 0.981, supporting the stability of Türkiye’s placement in the lower-readiness group despite variation in its exact rank across methods. Türkiye is below the unweighted EU-27 country mean for all indicators, with its largest relative shortfall in high-technology exports. The findings diagnose a structural gap in the digital, human-capability and innovation enablers of Industry 5.0; they do not measure the complete Industry 5.0 construct, particularly its direct human-centric, sustainability and resilience outcomes. Full article

As religious tourism expands across Asia, it remains unclear who benefits from its growth and who is overlooked in policy and industry accounts. Drawing on fieldwork in the temple-towns of Jejuri and Tuljapur in Maharashtra, India, this paper aims to make a timely and original contribution about the significance of informal, family-run and ritual-linked enterprises to the centre of debates on entrepreneurship and inclusive tourism development. The study combines visitor surveys, detailed enterprise mapping and entrepreneur interviews to reveal a dense but precarious local economy which is sustained by religious retail (a term articulated for sale of items related to rituals), street vending and small-scale service provision. These micro-enterprises are culturally central but economically fragile, low-margin and weakly recognised in policy. The paper argues that entrepreneurship is constrained by traditional religious authority, informality, seasonality and limited innovation capacity, while rising visitor numbers are creating opportunities in travel, accommodation and food. It shows that sustainability in temple-towns depends on livelihood durability, socio-cultural continuity, participatory governance and distributional justice. By foregrounding actors often omitted from formal economic analysis, the paper reframes religious tourism as an embedded entrepreneurial ecosystem and calls for policies that strengthen local enterprise capability, resilience and participation. Full article