Search Results (5)

This study examines whether and under what conditions the digital economy (DGE) improves the green development efficiency of China’s tourism industry. Drawing on panel data for 30 Chinese provinces from 2012 to 2023, we develop a multidimensional index of the DGE that captures digital infrastructure, digital industrialization, and industrial digitalization. To evaluate tourism green development efficiency, we employ a non-radial, non-angular super-efficiency slacks-based measure (SBM) model that incorporates both desirable outputs and undesirable environmental externalities. From a theoretical perspective, we extend the Cobb–Douglas production framework by embedding DGE-induced technological progress, showing that digitalization can improve green efficiency through two complementary pathways: it expands expected output while reducing carbon intensity. Empirically, the baseline two-way fixed-effects results show that DGE significantly promotes tourism green development efficiency ($\beta$ = 0.0153, p < 0.05), and this result remains robust in instrumental-variable (IV) estimation ($\beta$ = 0.0383, p < 0.05). We further show that this relationship is conditioned by three important external conditions. First, environmental regulation strengthens the enabling effect of digitalization, consistent with a compliance-induced Porter effect. Second, tourism industry agglomeration enhances the benefits of digital transformation by deepening knowledge spillovers and network complementarities. Third, green finance relaxes financing constraints and creates more favorable conditions for digital investment. By integrating a formal theoretical model with panel-data evidence, this study provides a unified explanation of both the mechanism and the boundary conditions through which the DGE promotes tourism green development efficiency. Overall, the findings suggest that the DGE is an important driver of sustainable tourism development and offer useful policy implications for coordinated digital and green transformation. Full article

This paper provides a historical perspective on comparatively low levels of trade in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, focusing on studies addressing the impact of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Our literature review identifies best practices and reviews trade potential estimates and finds that the last year for which a relevant trade potential estimate for the region accounting for the influence of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict is available is 1999. First, we replicate the seminal study that provided the earliest estimation of trade potential. Next, we extend and update this study, using a best practice panel PPML gravity model with ex(/im)porter-year fixed effects for 76 countries (1991–2019 inclusive). Finally, we use two alternative approaches to estimate the intra-MENA trade potential that could have been reaped as a consequence of a geopolitically more stable and open Middle East (ME). In the year 2019, this ‘pot of gold’ (POG) in per cent of intra-MENA trade amounted to 10% to 54% (import-based) and 21% to 48% (export-based), substantially lower than earlier literature reports. Full article

Background: The Port of Santa Marta, located on Colombia’s northern Caribbean coast, plays a vital role in the country’s maritime trade, particularly in the export of agricultural and perishable goods. This raises the question: how competitive is Santa Marta’s container terminal compared to national and regional ports, and what strategic factors shape its performance within the Colombia and Latin American maritime logistics system? Methods: This study evaluates the port’s competitiveness by applying Porter’s Extended Diamond Model. A mixed-methods ap-proach was employed, combining structured surveys and interviews with port stakeholders and operational data analysis. A competitiveness matrix was developed and examined using standardized residuals and L1 regression to identify critical performance gaps and strengths. Results: The analysis reveals several competitive advantages, including the port’s strategic location, natural deep-water access, and advanced infrastructure for refrigerated cargo. It also benefits from skilled labour and proximity to global shipping routes, such as the Panama Canal. Nonetheless, challenges remain in storage capacity, limited road connectivity, and insufficient public investment in hinterland infrastructure. Conclusions: While the Port of Santa Marta shows strong maritime capabilities and spe-cialized services, addressing its land-side and institutional constraints is essential for positioning it as a resilient, competitive logistics hub in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Full article

In the context of the increasingly intensified innovation competition, improving industrial innovation efficiency is the key to achieving the sustainable development of the old industrial base. This paper adopts the thinking of regional research to study the laws of industrial innovation in the old industrial base and takes the lock-in effect as the connection point between the industrial evolution history and industrial innovation efficiency. Based on the perspective of the lock-in effect, the three-stage industrial innovation model, the lock-in effect identification method, and the extended Porter model are creatively constructed. This paper chooses Jilin Province in Northeast China as a case, dissects the evolution history of industrial innovation in detail, and uses super-efficiency DEA, the Granger test, geographical detectors, and the panel regression method for quantitative analysis. The results show the following: (1) The lock-in effect faced by the industrial innovation of the old industrial base is significant, which has an impact on industrial innovation through industrial structure, enterprise composition, management system, and degree of marketization. (2) The lock-in effect causes the old industrial base to fall into an unhealthy circle in which it is difficult for industrial enterprises to obtain sufficient benefits through industrial innovation and the ability of industrial enterprises to absorb regional innovation resources is weakened. (3) The impact mechanism of industrial innovation in the old industrial base is very complex and the lock-in effect factors are not all negative. The improvement of industrial innovation in the old industrial base needs to increase the role of market forces, reform large traditional enterprises, and increase foreign economic ties. However, it also needs policy support, and it should avoid overly radical industrial transformation and enterprise strategies. Full article

The typical approach in the business strand of literature on inter-organisational forms of cooperation is based on the Porter’s value chain model or on the body of literature related to the supply chain. However, there is extended research on value chains based on a different theoretical tradition, rooted in world-systems theory and commodity chain concepts, which recently tend to merge under the umbrella of the Global Value Chain (GVC). We use this eclectic approach as a theoretical framework to investigate the issue of informational asymmetries considered as a barrier in upgrading the position of local producers in the GVC by enhancing quality. As an empirical illustration, we use the Polish apple sector. Poland is one of the largest apple producers in the world with a strong export orientation and linkages with the global value chain. The study provides an insight into the barriers of upgrading the position in GVC and ways to overcome them. Responsibility for the final quality offered for the end-user is strongly dispersed across many actors in the chain, while interrelations between them are plagued by the information asymmetry problem. Therefore, the upstream transmission of end-user quality expectations within the chain fails due to the lack of orchestrating incentives and causes the misbehaviour in conducting different activities in the chain. Thus, attempts to upgrade the position of Polish apple growers in the GVC should be focused on overcoming information asymmetries. Mechanisms such as branding, standardisation and certification seem to be promising ways forward. Full article