Search Results (55)

Inscribed trays, plates, mortars, and pestles made of beautiful green chert bearing formulaic administrative textual formulae were found during excavations at the Persepolis Treasury in the 1930s. These implements and the enigmatic formulae inscribed upon them present scholars with a complex and unique challenge whose correct interpretation holds important implications for the study of Achaemenid history, imperial administration, and relations between ancient Arachosia (roughly modern-day Afghanistan) and the centers of power, as well as—as I argue in this article—for the symbiosis between administration and cult in antiquity. They continue to be hotly debated ever since their inauspicious initial publication by Bowman in 1970, yet they have thus far remained obscure. By comparing these finds with material and textual data from across the Achaemenid empire and early Parthian sources, this article offers a new comprehensive study of these objects. My analysis suggests that these objects are to be considered as a more systematized and tightly controlled Arachosian form of “informal taxation”—namely, regulated gifts—which are comparable to similar imperial donations found in the Treasury at Persepolis. Specifically, they take part in an “economy of fealty” demonstrating loyalty to king and empire through the adherence to the era’s Mazdean ritual orthopraxy. 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

Environmental sustainability constitutes a strategic priority for Germany, with the circular economy serving a crucial function in its realization. Circular practices foster sustainable development by decreasing reliance on finite resources, minimizing waste, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The circular economy provides ecological advantages and strengthens economic resilience through the promotion of innovation, enhancement of supply chain efficiency, and creation of green jobs. Complementary measures, including the preservation of natural capital, the enactment of structural economic reforms, and the implementation of environmental taxes, enhance sustainability objectives. Ecosystem conservation enhances carbon absorption, structural changes facilitate low-emission industries, and environmental taxes incorporate environmental costs. In contrast, industrial activity continues to be a significant contributor to GHG emissions, necessitating policy examination. This study analyzes the relationships between the circular economy, natural capital, structural change, environmental taxation, and industrial activities on GHG emissions in Germany from the first quarter of 2010 to the fourth quarter of 2022. The study employs wavelet coherence analysis (WCA), fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), demonstrating that circular economy practices, natural capital, structural changes, and environmental taxes significantly reduce GHG emissions. Conversely, industrial activities continually elevate GHG emissions in Germany. Moreover, WCA further reveals the time–frequency dynamics and co-movement patterns between key variables and GHG emissions, enabling the detection of both short-term and long-term dependencies. The results indicate that enhancing environmental sustainability in Germany could be effectively achieved by mandating the integration of recycled materials within key industrial sectors to improve environmental sustainability, which would help lower resource extraction and related GHG emissions. Full article

In this study, the relationship between economic growth and carbon emissions for the period 1968–2022 in Turkey was evaluated within the framework of the EKC (Environmental Kuznets Curve) hypothesis. In addition, the impacts of renewable energy consumption and agricultural value added on carbon emissions were analyzed using the ARDL bounds testing approach. The validity of the results was also tested using the FMOLS and DOLS methods. The findings confirmed the existence of a cointegration relationship between carbon emissions and per capita income, renewable energy consumption, and agricultural value added. Long-term analyses indicate that renewable energy consumption reduces carbon emissions, whereas growth in agricultural value added leads to an increase in emissions. In addition, it has been determined that the EKC hypothesis is valid in both the long and short terms and that increases in per capita income raise emissions up to a certain threshold and have a mitigating effect when this threshold is exceeded. The results of the short-term analysis showed that the effects of renewable energy consumption vary across periods, and that agricultural value added increases emissions in the short term. This study provides empirical evidence for Turkey by incorporating sectoral variables within the EKC framework and offers meaningful insights for policymakers regarding the environmental impacts of agricultural value added and renewable energy use in the context of a developing country. Accordingly, fiscal policy instruments such as green taxation, carbon credit trading mechanisms, and financial and agricultural subsidies should be more effectively utilized in Turkey to support structural transformation in agriculture and promote the use of clean energy, in line with the findings that suggest the need for targeted agricultural and energy policies aligned with Turkey’s SDG commitments. Full article

Against the backdrop of rapidly expanding international trade and escalating environmental challenges, the development of green ports has emerged as a pivotal element of sustainable development. This study addresses the critical issues of insufficient corporate motivation for transformation and inadequate regulatory mechanisms by establishing a tripartite evolutionary game model involving government, customs, and port enterprises. Key findings demonstrate that customs supervision significantly reduces enterprises’ transition costs and enhances environmental compliance willingness, though its effectiveness depends on complementary government policies including environmental taxation and fiscal incentives. When regulatory intensity is weak, enterprises persist with conventional practices; conversely, strengthened supervision accelerates strategic convergence toward sustainable governance. This research provides a theoretical foundation for policymakers to formulate green port initiatives while offering practical guidance for enterprises to align with sustainability objectives, thereby contributing to environmentally responsible port development. Full article

Access to housing in Athens during the first postwar decades protected a broad range of low-means social groups and enhanced their social mobility. Eventually, the city’s housing market was dominated by neoliberal policies, producing a very different social effect. Since the mid-2010s, the changes in the housing market were also interconnected with the rise in demand for housing (some of it related to tourism and other forms of ‘external’ demand for accommodation), the boom in the construction sector, the change in property taxation, the increase in housing prices, and the need to improve built properties. The analysis of three different datasets in this paper confirmed that the unregulated city’s housing market is following the spatially differentiated demand and reproducing socio-spatial inequalities. It also confirmed that the few policy initiatives developed since the early 2010s have not faced the housing needs of the most vulnerable groups because they were weak and because these needs were not their primary target. Athens seems to be one of the most unregulated cities in Southern Europe, where housing policies are far behind the needs and issues raised by increasing inequalities, and difficulties for vulnerable groups look like unavoidable outcomes. Full article

Hydrogen is a crucial energy carrier for the Clean Energy Sustainable Development Goals and the just transition to low/zero-carbon energy. As a top CO₂-emitting country, hydrogen (especially green hydrogen) production in South Africa has gained momentum due to the availability of resources, such as solar energy, land, wind energy, platinum group metals (as catalysts for electrolysers), and water. However, the demand for green hydrogen in South Africa is insignificant, which implies that the majority of the production must be exported. Despite the positive developments, there are unclear matters, such as dependence on the national electricity grid for green hydrogen production and the cost of transporting it to Asian and European markets. Hence, this study aims to explore opportunities for economic expansion for sustainable production, transportation, storage, and utilisation of green hydrogen produced in South Africa. This paper uses a thematic literature review methodology. The key findings are that the available renewable energy sources, incentivizing the green economy, carbon taxation, and increasing the demand for green hydrogen in South Africa and Africa could decrease the cost of hydrogen from 3.54 to 1.40 €/kgH₂ and thus stimulate its production, usage, and export. The appeal of green hydrogen lies in diversifying products to green hydrogen as an energy carrier, clean electricity, synthetic fuels, green ammonia and methanol, green fertilizers, and green steel production with the principal purpose of significant energy decarbonisation and economic and foreign earnings. These findings are expected to drive the African hydrogen revolution in agreement with the AU 2063 agenda. Full article

Haze pollution control is integral to green development, and fiscal and taxation policies are fundamental mechanisms supporting this effort. This study leverages the implementation of China’s Environmental Protection Tax (EPT) Law as a quasi-natural experiment to assess the impact and mechanisms of the greening of the tax system on haze pollution based on panel data from 281 prefecture-level cities in China from 2012 to 2021. The findings indicate that (1) the implementation of the EPT Law significantly reduces haze pollution, with results confirmed after a series of robustness tests; (2) the EPT Law controls haze pollution through promoting cleaner industrial structure, fostering green technological innovation, and strengthening the rigidity of environmental law enforcement; (3) fiscal decentralization enhances the inhibitory effect of the implementation of the EPT Law on haze pollution; (4) the haze-reduction effect of the EPT Law is especially notable in non-old industrial bases, areas with less pressure on officials’ promotions, and areas with higher public environmental awareness. This study not only enriches research on the policy effects of the EPT Law but also contributes to the environmental sustainable development goal of greening the tax system and continuously fighting for blue skies. Full article

This article selects 2992 Chinese heavily polluting listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets from 2014 to 2022 as research samples and conducts a natural experiment based on the implementation of the Environmental Protection Tax Law in 2018. The empirical study investigates the impact of the implementation of the Environmental Protection Tax Law on green innovation in heavily polluting enterprises using the difference-in-differences method. The research finds that the levy of environmental protection tax is beneficial for improving the level of corporate ESG performance, thereby enhancing the green innovation capability of heavily polluting enterprises. At the same time, the promotion of green innovation levels in heavily polluting enterprises by the Environmental Protection Tax Law mainly depends on strategic green innovation rather than substantive green innovation. Moreover, the impact of environmental protection tax on enterprises of different natures and scales varies significantly. Environmental protection taxes have notably enhanced green innovation levels more in state-owned enterprises than their non-state-owned counterparts. Similarly, large-scale enterprises have seen a more substantial increase in green innovation due to environmental protection taxes than smaller enterprises. In addition, corporate ESG performance plays a mediating role in the impact of environmental protection taxes on green innovation in heavily polluting enterprises. From the dual perspectives of environmental protection taxes and corporate ESG performance, this paper proposes ideas for the improvement of green innovation levels in heavily polluting enterprises. At the same time, it provides empirical evidence for the economic consequences of environmental protection taxes and corporate ESG performance and suggests that enterprises improve their green innovation system and enhance the quality of ESG information disclosure. The government is improving the system of environmental taxation and ESG information disclosure, enhancing public awareness of environmental protection, and exercising supervision over energy supply. Full article

Nigeria is a foremost oil producer in Africa, and thus faces substantial environmental issues like pollution and climate change. Therefore, since green taxation and green innovation emphasize inventing new technologies, mitigating environmental damage, and stimulating sustainability, understanding and encouraging green taxation and green innovation might aid in reducing these environmental challenges and protect natural resources. This study therefore explored the influence of board structure on the link between green taxation, green innovation, and cosmetic accounting practices of firms. This study adopted auxiliary data from the World Bank, OECD, and Nigerian corporations’ annual reports. The analysis included 792 firm-year observations from 2014 to 2021. A logistic regression analysis was performed. This study documented that firms costume their income to avoid paying environmental taxes or to generate a more constructive image of their green practices. Similarly, it was found that green innovations attract firms to engage in cosmetic accounting practice in Nigeria. However, firms’ effective board mechanisms have been found to prevent the likelihood of cosmetic accounting practices. Finally, it was established that green taxes and green innovations could prevent firms from engaging in cosmetic accounting practices in companies with effective board mechanisms. This study is the first to explore the influence of governance structure on the nexus between green taxation and cosmetic accounting practices of firms. The findings of this study provide valuable information to regulatory authorities, policymakers, and companies seeking to promote sustainable growth and green protection. Full article

Online-to-offline (O2O) retailing offers unique opportunities for customizable assembled products with spare parts. Customers can browse and configure their desired product online, selecting from various components. Imperfect production, where a certain percentage of products have defects, can be amplified in the manufacturing system. Stricter carbon emission regulations put pressure on manufacturers to minimize waste. This creates a tension between discarding imperfect products, generating emissions, and potentially offering them at a discount through the O2O channel, which could raise quality concerns for consumers. In this study, an imperfect single-stage production process is examined, incorporating manufacturing–remanufacturing within a single stage for assembled products containing various spare parts. The study explores an investment scenario aimed at enhancing the environmental sustainability of the product. Additionally, two carbon emissions regulation strategies, specifically carbon cap-and-trade regulation and carbon taxation, are evaluated for their effectiveness in mitigating carbon footprints. The identification of waste, particularly in the form of defective items, is achieved through automated inspection techniques. The demand for spare parts associated with the assembled products is intricately linked to the selling prices set across diverse channels. Finally, the total profit of the manufacturing system is maximized with the optimized value of the selling prices, order quantity, backorder quantity, and investments in autonomated inspection, setup cost, and green technology. Numerical illustrations show that system profit was optimized when the defective rate followed a triangular distribution under carbon cap-and-trade regulation and when green technology investment helped to enhance retailer profit by $18.12\%$, whereas autonomated inspection increased retailer profit by $10.27\%$. Full article

Efforts towards climate neutrality in Europe must prioritise manufacturing industries, particularly the energy-intensive industry (EII) subsectors. This work proposes a novel approach to assessing transformation options for EII subsectors. At the center of this approach we position a potential analysis of technologies’ impact on subsector decarbonisation—an approach only known so far from the investigation of renewable energy potentials. These so-called technical climate neutrality potentials, supplemented by a set of indicators taking into account energy consumption, capital and operational expenditures, and GHG taxation programs per technology and subsector, enable cross-sector comparisons. The indicators allow the reader to compare the impact on GHG emission mitigation, energy demand, and cost for every considered technology. At the same time, we keep an open mind regarding combinations of technological solutions in the overall energy system. This ensures that the technology pathways with the greatest climate neutrality potential are easily identified. These focal points can subsequently serve in, e.g., narrative-driven scenario analyses to define comprehensive guides for action for policymakers. A case study of Austria for the proposed potential analysis demonstrates that bio-CH₄ and electrolysis-derived H₂ are the most economical green gases, but GHG certificate costs will be necessary for cost-competitiveness in high-temperature applications. Electrification offers advantages over conventional technologies and CO₂-neutral gas alternatives in low-to-mid temperature ranges. Under the given assumptions, including GHG emission certificate costs of 250 EUR/t CO₂, alternative technologies in the identified climate neutrality pathways can operate at total annual costs comparable to conventional fossil-based equivalents. Full article

In today’s industrial landscape, there is a mounting urgency to mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of emissions stemming from supply chain operations. On one front, policy-makers impose increasingly stringent emission reduction targets for supply chains, while on another front, consumers express a heightened preference for products and services with reduced carbon footprints. This study addresses the challenge of determining an optimal carbon pricing strategy by integrating the imperatives of a green supply chain with carbon taxation policies. To this end, we introduce a bi-level mixed-integer linear programming model for supply chain network planning, encompassing considerations of carbon taxation policies and the responsiveness of demand to the final product’s price and associated carbon emissions. Findings from a case study underscore that an escalation in carbon pricing prompts the supply chain to prioritize emissions reduction through the utilization of environmentally conscious approaches. The results reveal the need for a USD 0.9/kg carbon price to achieve a 10% emission reduction, resulting in an 80% profit decline. Notably, a 10% reduction has profound impacts, which leads to the suggestion of a gradual approach. Furthermore, as carbon prices reach higher levels, the supply chain tends toward curtailing production, thereby fostering an environment conducive to emission abatement. Consequently, policy formulators must judiciously calibrate a fitting carbon pricing mechanism to strike a harmonious equilibrium between emission reduction targets and the financial outlays of the supply chain. Full article

Based on the panel data of 100 cities in China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2010 to 2020 and the extended STIRPAT model, this paper uses SYS-GMM to empirically study the impact of green taxation on carbon emissions in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Then, it explores the effect path of green taxation on regional carbon emissions using the intermediary effect model and analyzes the threshold characteristics of the influence of urban greening level on the regional carbon emissions of green taxation using the threshold effect model. The results show that, (1) from 2010 to 2020, the carbon emissions in China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt showed a slow rising trend, and carbon emissions in the lower reaches were significantly higher than those in the middle and upper reaches. (2) Green taxation can significantly suppress carbon emissions in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. However, green taxation has the weakest inhibitory effect on carbon emissions in the upstream region and is slightly stronger in the middle reaches, with the strongest inhibitory effect on carbon emission in the downstream region. (3) From the perspective of the action path, the level of green technology innovation has a significant partial mediating effect. Green taxation mainly realizes carbon emission reductions by improving the level of urban green technology innovation, and its intermediary effect accounts for 17.6% of the total effect of green taxation on regional carbon emissions and 15.6% of the total effect of green taxation on per capita carbon emission intensity. (4) Further research shows that the emission reduction effect of green taxation is also influenced by the level of urban greening, showing a single threshold effect. Before reaching the threshold value, the inhibition effect of green taxation on carbon emission levels is relatively strong, and after crossing the threshold value, the inhibition effect is weakened. Full article

To achieve the goal of long-term stable poverty reduction, it is necessary to implement not only economic poverty reduction but also natural poverty reduction and formulate a green and sustainable economic growth pattern, and finance is an effective means to affect economic poverty reduction and natural poverty reduction. This paper innovatively calculates the natural poverty index of 1712 county administrative units in China based on BP neural network and combines relevant county data to investigate the impact of county fiscal decentralization on natural poverty and its transmission mechanism from 2000 to 2020 using a two-way fixed-effect model, which provides a new interpretation perspective for green economy patterns and sustainable development. The main research results are as follows: First, the increase in county-level financial autonomy in China significantly increases the level of regional natural poverty, which is still valid after a series of robustness tests using the instrumental variable method, replacing the response variables and processing with a one-stage lag. Secondly, heterogeneity analysis shows that, on the one hand, the positive impact of county-level fiscal decentralization on the natural poverty index is different in regions with different natural poverty formation mechanisms. On the other hand, the reform of “provincial direct management of counties” has significantly improved the natural poverty situation in counties, indicating that an extensive fiscal and taxation system in the early stages of economic development aggravates regional natural poverty and that optimized fiscal decentralization is conducive to the alleviation of natural poverty. Finally, the mechanism analysis found that the local income impact and expenditure preference accompanied by the fiscal decentralization of counties strengthened the race to the bottom of taxation, guided industrialization, hindered technological progress and led to the deterioration of regional natural poverty. This research claims that encouraging local governments to deepen and improve the fiscal decentralization system, implement the concept of green finance, improve the ecological protection compensation mechanism and market incentive system and implement differentiated mitigation plans for different natural poverty counties are the crucial factors to achieving natural poverty alleviation at the county level and improving regional ecological sustainability in the future. Full article