Search Results (360)

Achieving the construction sector’s dual carbon objectives necessitates scaling green energy adoption in new residential buildings. The current literature critically overlooks four unresolved problems: oversimplified penalty mechanisms, ignoring escalating regulatory costs; static subsidies misaligned with market maturity evolution; systematic exclusion of innovation feedback from energy suppliers; and underexplored behavioral evolution of building owners. This study establishes a government–suppliers–owners evolutionary game framework with dynamically calibrated policies, simulated using MATLAB multi-scenario analysis. Novel findings demonstrate: (1) A dual-threshold penalty effect where excessive fines diminish policy returns due to regulatory costs, requiring dynamic calibration distinct from fixed-penalty approaches; (2) Market-maturity-phased subsidies increasing owner adoption probability by 30% through staged progression; (3) Energy suppliers’ cost-reducing innovations as pivotal feedback drivers resolving coordination failures, overlooked in prior tripartite models; (4) Owners’ adoption motivation shifts from short-term economic incentives to environmentally driven decisions under policy guidance. The framework resolves these gaps through integrated dynamic mechanisms, providing policymakers with evidence-based regulatory thresholds, energy suppliers with cost-reduction targets, and academia with replicable modeling tools. Full article

Green innovation is a key driver of sustainable development, yet Chinese firms, as major innovators, still underperform in this area. While directors play a central role in corporate governance, the influence of their green backgrounds on green innovation remains underexplored. This study investigates how directors with green backgrounds impact corporate green innovation. We consider both the appointment and the power of green-background directors. At the same time, we use the manually collected data from China’s heavily polluting listed firms between 2014 and 2020. We also conduct regulatory effect and mediation effect analyses. We found the following: (1) Green-background directors significantly promote corporate green innovation. Appointing directors with environmental expertise enhances firms’ green innovation performance, and this positive effect strengthens as these directors’ power increases. (2) Mechanistically, green-background directors facilitate green innovation by raising firms’ environmental awareness and helping secure government environmental subsidies. (3) Contextual influences matter. Moderating effect tests reveal that the impact of green-background directors is strengthened in firms with diligent boards, firm size, and green investors, but weakened in regions with higher marketization levels. (4) Further analysis shows that green-background directors enhance both strategic and substantive green innovation while also ensuring the long-term continuity of green innovation efforts. Full article

The rapid proliferation of electronic waste, driven by the short lifecycle of smartphones and planned obsolescence strategies, presents escalating global environmental challenges. To address these issues from a systems perspective, this study develops an agent-based modeling (ABM) framework that simulates consumer decisions and stakeholder interactions within the smartphone reuse and recycling ecosystem. The model incorporates key behavioral drivers—privacy concerns, moral norms, and financial incentives—to examine how social and economic factors shape consumer behavior. Four primary agent types—consumers, manufacturers, recyclers, and second-hand retailers—are modeled to capture complex feedback and market dynamics. Calibrated using empirical data from Jiangsu Province, China, the simulation reveals a dominant consumer tendency to store obsolete smartphones rather than engage in reuse or formal recycling. However, the introduction of government subsidies significantly shifts behavior, doubling participation in second-hand markets and markedly improving recycling rates. These results highlight the value of integrating behavioral insights into environmental modeling to inform circular economy strategies. By offering a flexible and behaviorally grounded simulation tool, this study supports the design of more effective policies for promoting responsible smartphone disposal and lifecycle extension. Full article

This study intends to portray how varying degrees of environmental policy stringency and the growing pressure of global competition reflect on high-tech (HT) sectors’ cost rationalization strategies and lead to environmental consequences in 15 G20 countries (1992–2019). Moreover, we center the pattern of cost rationalization management regarding the opportunity cost of ecosystem service consumption and propose to test the fundamental hypothesis stating the possible transmission of competition-induced technological innovations to green economic transformation. Our new methodology estimates quantile-specific effects with MM-QR, while identifying the main interaction effects between regulatory pressure and trade competition uses an extended STIRPAT model. The results reveal a paradoxical finding: despite higher environmental policy stringency and opportunity costs of ecosystem services, HT sectors persistently adopt environmentally detrimental cost-reduction approaches. These findings carry important policy implications: (1) environmental regulations for HT sectors require complementary innovation subsidies, (2) trade agreements should incorporate clean technology transfer clauses, and (3) governments must monitor sectoral emission leakage risks. Our dual machine learning–econometric approach provides policymakers with targeted insights for different emission scenarios, highlighting the need for differentiated strategies across clean and polluting HT subsectors. Full article

Although carbon emissions trading systems are universally acknowledged as one of the most potent policy instruments for counteracting hazardous climate trends, and digitalization is seen as a favorable technological means to promote corporate green and low-carbon transformation, few studies have investigated the dark side of both. Using data on Chinese listed companies from 2011 to 2020 and adopting a multi-period DID methodology, this research reveals that, in response to the carbon emissions trading system, firms often adopt low-cost, strategic environmental governance behaviors—namely, carbon washing—to reduce compliance costs and maintain their reputation and image. Furthermore, the study reveals that the information advantages of digital transformation create conditions for the opportunistic manipulation of carbon disclosure. Digitalization amplifies the positive influence of the carbon trading system on corporate carbon washing behavior. Mechanism analysis confirms that the carbon emissions trading system increases the production costs of regulated firms, thereby increasing their carbon washing behavior. Economic consequence analysis confirms that firms engage in carbon washing to gain legitimacy and maintain their reputation and image, which may allow them to obtain opportunistic benefits in the capital market. Finally, this study suggests that the government should adopt supplementary policy tools, such as environmental subsidies, enhanced use of digital technologies to strengthen regulatory capacity, and increased media oversight, to mitigate the unintended consequences of the carbon trading system on corporate behavior. Full article

It is well known that there is a significant conflict of interest between high-speed rail (HSR) operators and logistics companies. This study proposes an HSR freight pricing strategy based on a multi-objective optimization framework and a freight mode splitting model based on the Logit model. A utility function was constructed to quantify the comprehensive utility of different modes of transportation by integrating five key influencing factors: economy, speed, convenience, stability, and environmental sustainability. A bi-objective optimization model was developed to balance the cost of the logistics with the benefits of high-speed rail operators to achieve a win–win situation. The model is solved by the TOPSIS method, and its effectiveness is verified by the freight case of the Zhengzhou–Chongqing high-speed railway in China. The results of this study showed that (1) HSR has advantages in medium-distance freight transportation; (2) increasing government subsidies can help improve the market competitiveness of high-speed rail in freight transportation. This research provides theoretical foundations and methodological support for optimizing HSR freight pricing mechanisms and improving multimodal transport efficiency. Full article

Remanufacturing in reverse logistics can not only support sustainable development but also provide a tractable way to achieve carbon neutrality. This study evaluates whether an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) should remanufacture outsource or authorize this reverse channel activity in the presence of government subsidies. Additionally, the model considers the equilibrium acquisition quantities, collection rates, prices, and effects of government subsidy under three reverse channel options: centralizing remanufacturing, outsourcing remanufacturing, and authorization remanufacturing. The analysis indicates that (i) a centralized approach with manufacturing and remanufacturing operations under a fixed government subsidy is always in the interest of the supply chain; (ii) that for the profit-maximizing third-party remanufacturer (3PR), the differentials in variable collection costs drive the strategy choice, and that a higher fixed scaling parameter of the collection cost favors outsourcing; and (iii) when the government aspires to reduce environmental effects and subsidy payments, the OEM and government have different reverse channel choice preferences. Surprisingly, profitability and environmental goals align under a high consumer acceptance of the remanufactured product. This paper extends the understanding of the remanufacturing strategy of an OEM and provides new insights on which reverse channel is optimal. Full article

In China, the recycling system for waste tires is characterized by high output but low standardized recovery rates. This study examines the environmental and health risks caused by non-compliant treatment by individual recyclers and explores the barriers to the large-scale adoption of Pyrolysis Technology. A Tripartite Evolutionary Game Model involving pyrolysis plants, waste tire recyclers, and government regulators is developed. The model incorporates pollutants from pretreatment and pyrolysis processes into a unified metric—Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CO₂-eq)—based on Global Warming Potential (GWP), and designs a Differential Carbon Taxation mechanism accordingly. The strategy dynamics and stability conditions for Evolutionary Stable Strategies (ESS) are analyzed. Multi-scenario numerical simulations explore how key parameter changes influence evolutionary trajectories and equilibrium outcomes. Six typical equilibrium states are identified, along with the critical conditions for achieving environmentally friendly results. Based on theoretical analysis and simulation results, targeted policy recommendations are proposed to promote standardized waste tire pyrolysis: (1) Establish a phased dynamic carbon tax with supporting subsidies; (2) Build a green market cultivation and price stabilization system; (3) Implement performance-based differential incentives; (4) Strengthen coordination between central environmental inspections and local carbon tax enforcement. Full article

With the rapid development of new energy vehicles, the echelon utilization of power batteries has become a key pathway to promoting efficient resource recycling and environmental sustainability. To address the limitation of the existing studies that overlook the dynamic strategic interactions among multiple stakeholders, this paper constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model involving the government, battery recycling enterprises, and consumers. By incorporating consumers’ battery usage levels into the strategy space, the model captures the behavioral evolution of all these parties under bounded rationality. Numerical simulations are conducted to analyze the impact of government incentives and penalties, consumer usage behaviors, and enterprise recycling modes on system stability. The results show that a “low-subsidy, high-penalty” mechanism can more effectively guide enterprises to prioritize echelon utilization and that moderate consumer usage significantly improves battery reuse efficiency. This study enriches the application of the evolutionary game theory in the field of battery recycling and provides quantitative evidence and practical insights for policy formulation. Full article

Problem: Agriculture in India faces pressing challenges related to water scarcity, excessive pesticide use, and inefficient energy consumption, impacting both economic sustainability and environmental health. Methodology: This study integrates Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Intelligent Management Models (IMMs), and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to assess the economic and environmental benefits of UAV-based spraying in Indian agriculture. Data were collected from UAV service providers and field trials in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. Results: UAV spraying achieved a 70% reduction in water use, 40% reduction in pesticide consumption, and a 50% reduction in CO₂ emissions compared to conventional spraying. DEA results showed higher efficiency scores for UAVs, while IMM optimization achieved 95% pesticide coverage and reduced drift by 80%. Implications: MCDA ranked government subsidies as the most effective policy intervention. These findings support UAV spraying as a viable, scalable solution for climate-smart agriculture in India, offering both productivity and sustainability gains. Full article

Against the backdrop of increasingly severe global environmental issues, the manner in which enterprises conduct R&D investment, influenced by both government environmental policies and their own pollution levels, has become a prominent research topic. This paper employs the bilateral random frontier model of information game (SFA2tier) to analyze the influence levels and determining factors of government and market enterprises. The findings reveal that enterprises exert a stronger influence than the government, with the latter able to enhance R&D investment by 5.50% through its own influence. The disparity in influence levels between government and enterprises regarding R&D investment is significant and varies according to regional economic development levels and administrative hierarchies. Key determining factors include government subsidies, the nature of enterprise ownership, and enterprise size. The research results not only enrich relevant theories concerning the relationship between environmental policies and enterprise R&D investment but also provide valuable insights for the government to formulate more effective environmental policies and for enterprises to develop R&D strategies. Full article

This study analyses the impact of agricultural greenwashing on financial performance via green innovation. To this end, it employs data from Chinese A-share agribusinesses from 2012 to 2022. The study indicates the following results: (1) the practice of greenwashing (ESG disclosure–performance gap, GW) has a significant negative impact on ROA, particularly in non-state firms; (2) green innovation (patents, GI) partially mediates this relationship, with a percentage of 9.09%, as GW diverts research and development resources toward image management. Robustness checks are employed to confirm the results obtained using ROE and lagged models. Property rights moderate the effects: non-state firms are more adversely affected by innovation dependency, while state firms are protected by policies. The “double-edged” mechanism elucidates GW’s short-term legitimacy gains in contrast to long-term innovation suppression and financial decline. The report calls for the establishment of standardised ESG metrics (for example, the disclosure of pesticide residue) and targeted green incentives (for example, SME R&D subsidies) to be aligned with UN SDGs 9.4 (green tech) and 12.6 (responsible production). The present study offers insights into the governance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters within the context of agriculture in China. Full article

Oil-dependent countries face persistent challenges, such as energy supply–demand imbalances, overreliance on fossil fuels, declining economic diversification, and environmental degradation. In response, policymakers are increasingly advocating for comprehensive energy transitions to enhance energy and environmental security while promoting sustainable development. This study evaluates Iran’s energy transition through the modeling of five scenarios using the EnergyPLAN software V16.3. These scenarios, ranging from increased fossil fuel production to renewable energy deployment, subsidy reform, and energy efficiency, were developed based on a systematic literature review and expert interviews. Key indicators such as carbon emissions, primary energy demand, and supply–demand balance were used to assess the long-term impacts of each scenario through 2040. The Transition Scenario Policy (TSP), which integrates elements of all other scenarios, emerged as the most effective pathway for reducing emissions, correcting supply–demand imbalances, and aligning with sustainable development goals. The novelty of this study lies in its mixed-method approach, combining qualitative stakeholder insights with quantitative modeling, offering a replicable framework for energy transition planning in similar oil-dependent contexts. The practical implications support evidence-based policy making, while the results open avenues for future research on adaptive energy governance, policy trade-offs, and resilience under global uncertainty. Full article

The Chinese government has been continuously strengthening environmental regulations. to promote the reduction in pesticide use. However, the issue of excessive pesticide use remains unresolved. Technological progress of the pesticide manufacturing industry plays a critical role in reducing pesticide intensity and is a key objective of environmental regulations for pesticides. This study examines the impact of China’s environmental regulations on technological progress of the pesticide manufacturing industry by using panel data from 30 provinces between 2004 and 2020 and constructing command-and-control and market-incentive environmental regulations. Empirical results show that environmental regulations have significantly promoted technological progress of the pesticide manufacturing industry, with market-incentive environmental regulations proving more effective than command-and-control environmental regulations. Regional analysis reveals that the eastern and western regions are consistent with the national results, while the central region shows heterogeneity. In the eastern and western regions, environmental regulations have fostered technological progress, generating an “innovation compensation effect”. However, the central region exhibits a dual effect. On one hand, environmental regulations have stimulated research in pesticide technologies; on the other hand, they have squeezed out investment in high-quality and innovative technologies, thereby hindering technological progress to some extent. Consequently, the government should enhance environmental supervision, revise environmental protection laws, and increase investments and subsidies for pesticide enterprises to foster technological innovation. Moreover, the formulation and implementation of environmental regulations should account for regional disparities. Full article

In the global pursuit of sustainable development and climate change mitigation, reconciling export growth with environmental protection has emerged as a universal challenge. As the world’s largest developing economy, China has traditionally relied on a resource-intensive development model to fuel rapid foreign trade growth. However, this extensive growth pattern has not only led to environmental pollution domestically but has also encountered hurdles from international green trade barriers. Finance, as a key driver of stable economic growth, plays a pivotal role in achieving high-quality trade development. Against this backdrop, the Chinese government has introduced the green credit interest subsidies policy. This policy aims to coordinate government financial resources and guide capital toward green production, alleviating financing constraints and fostering the upgrading of export product quality. Utilizing data from the World Bank, China Customs statistics, and provincial panels from 2011 to 2020, this study employs a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model to examine the causal impact of the green credit subsidies policy on efforts to upgrade the export quality of green products across China’s regions. The benchmark regression results indicate that the green credit interest subsidies policy has significantly improved the export quality of green products across China’s manufacturing industries. Heterogeneity analysis shows that this policy has had a more pronounced positive impact on green product quality in industries with quality-based competition strategies, in regions with well-coordinated local finance and financial policies, as well as in countries that have concluded environmental clauses with China. Mechanism analysis reveals that, on the export side, the policy enhances green product quality by easing financing constraints, increasing green credit, boosting productivity, and upgrading industrial structures. On the import side, the policy promotes green product quality by expanding the scale, variety, and quality of green intermediate goods. This research offers valuable insights for developing countries aiming to establish export-oriented green transformation and upgrading strategies. Full article