Search Results (26)

Research on the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) has predominantly examined its implications for climate governance and export trade yet overlooked how enterprises adapt their foreign investment strategies. Using panel data from Chinese listed companies between 2011 and 2022, this study employs the CBAM as a quasi-natural experiment and applies a difference-in-differences (DID) model for analysis. Our findings indicate that the CBAM has a significant positive impact on outward greenfield investments, as robustly validated through a series of rigorous robustness checks. Mechanism analysis reveals two operational channels: trade restructuring effect (reduced export shares) and innovation-driven demand effect (enhanced R&D intensity). Heterogeneity tests further indicate more substantial CBAM responsiveness among eastern coastal firms, non-state-owned enterprises, and those pursuing horizontal production-oriented expansions. This study contributes to the literature on CBAM’s effects and offers practical recommendations for enterprises to mitigate CBAM’s impact via greenfield investments. Full article

Australian cities face significant and growing challenges due to the combined impacts of population growth, climate change, unsustainable consumption, and digital disruption. While new services and technologies are being developed to support improved urban and environmental sustainability outcomes, significant barriers to change persist. To devise strategies addressing the resistance to change, we explore the Australian urban planning and development system to identify constraints and enablers of innovation, deconstructing commonly cited barriers such as ‘path dependency’, ‘technological lock-in’, and ‘short-termism’. We used a mixed-method approach consisting of a national cross-sectional survey and two urban development case studies. Based on its findings, this paper argues for an enhancement of the system-wide innovation capacity of Australian cities to address environmental, social, and economic pressures and achieve sustainability and resilience goals. Building and extending upon transitions theory, strategic action fields, and urban experimentation and innovation, this paper sets out a rationale for increased investment in Australia’s urban innovation ecosystem and provides five strategic actions to guide urban decision-makers, planners, and industry stakeholders. It highlights the necessity of fostering adaptive policy environments and creating dedicated zones in urban greenfield developments for sustainability innovation and experimentation to inspire and accelerate system-wide change. Full article

Geothermal water, as a by-product of renewable energy generation, can be appreciated as part of a sustainable Blue Economy in terms of resource effectiveness. This could be part of urban geothermal resource parks in the near future. City aquaculture integrated with urban farms running in a cascading model of energy and material consumption can provide an advanced energy-water-food nexus in densely populated areas, evolving into a refined Nature 4.0 habitat. This case study of the world’s first climate-controlled, closed salmon farm based on geothermal resources presents inclusive, water-sensitive design principles and resilient urban planning, where architecture brings aquatic ecosystems indoors. This is also an example of how to reduce investment risk and integrate geothermal development with sustainable, innovative fish farming based on water circulation systems (RAS) and digital technologies to sustain life-support systems. This greenfield project on Poland’s Baltic coast highlights the potential for geothermal investments, demonstrating that even low-temperature extracted water can serve as both a renewable energy source and a valuable resource. Having operated successfully for over a decade with positive certification, this model of efficient geothermal resource utilization appears to be well-suited for replication and broader implementation. Full article

This study aims to investigate how innovation development drives green finance in the Visegrad countries by analyzing the role of R&D investments, high-tech trade, and patent activity in attracting greenfield investments. Using a vector autoregression (VAR) model with data from 2007 to 2022, this study employs forecasting techniques, impulse response functions, and variance decomposition analyses to assess the dynamic relationship between innovation and green financial flows. The findings reveal that R&D expenditures are the strongest driver of green investments, explaining over 93% of the variance in Poland and Hungary. High-tech trade significantly influences investment trends, contributing up to 84% of the variance in the Czech Republic, while patent applications initially boost greenfield investments but show diminishing returns over time. Although innovation-driven investments remain stable overall, the impact of trade and patents varies across countries, reflecting regional differences. This study identifies key challenges, such as commercialization gaps and policy disparities, highlighting the need for targeted financial and innovation policies. To sustain green finance growth, policymakers should expand R&D funding, strengthen trade infrastructure, and enhance intellectual property commercialization. Additionally, financial institutions and investors should play a more active role in developing green investment markets to support long-term economic resilience and sustainability. Full article

Numerous studies have explored the impact of Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) on upgrading industrial structures in home countries. However, a notable gap exists in the literature regarding the reverse relationship. Based on the cross-border greenfield investment data of Chinese provinces in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries from 2003 to 2021, this study employed the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model to evaluate the impact of industrial upgrading in each province on OFDI to address this gap. The findings suggest that China’s industrial structure upgrading significantly promotes OFDI toward ASEAN countries, though the effect varies by region within China and by the income levels of host countries. Regionally, industrial upgrading in eastern China notably stimulates OFDI growth, while the effect is not significant in the central and western regions, reflecting inconsistent evolution of industrial structures in various regions. Regarding host country income levels, the promotion effect of industrial structure upgrading on OFDI is influenced by the economic development level of the host country. Furthermore, we find that R&D intensity acts as a moderator that links industrial structural upgrading to OFDI responses. These findings withstand robustness checks, including tests for endogeneity. Ultimately, this study provides policy insights for strengthening the virtuous cycle between industrial upgrading and OFDI. Full article

This study focuses on digital operational knowledge belonging to natural persons and proposes a greenfield approach to differentiate the value of intangibles from that of human intellectual capital. Our research approach involves two assessments. Assessment 1 evaluates intangible assets using the internally generated goodwill (IGG) measure. We analyze time-series IGG data for six digital sectors, using the top 90 software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies as a benchmark. The results indicate that the IGG of the SaaS benchmark is higher than the total IGG of the six sectors. Assessment 2 focuses on the correlation between digital labor investment and digital investment returns before and after 2013 for the six sectors to identify positive and negative correlations from 2013 onward. The results indicate that, since 2013, a qualitative change has occurred in digital labor capital that has not been reflected in financial statements because of accounting distortions and that the returns on investment for digital labor have been underestimated. The standalone valuation of digital know-how that belongs to natural persons, previously based on operating expense, will be based on capital expenditure. In addition, amortization will have the same contribution as depreciation of tangible assets to value creation. Full article

Strategic asset seeking foreign direct investment has undergone tremendous growth over the past decade. This paper first attempts to evaluate the location choice of such investments in Europe. We find that Chinese companies target strategic assets in Europe. The paper then moves to understand the efficacy of these investments in terms of the creation of strategic assets in the Chinese parent company. Our results show the intangible assets of Chinese domestic parent firms significantly increase in the wake of their investments. For greenfield investments, there is a longer time-lag in creation of intangible strategic assets than for acquisitions. However, greenfield investments result in a larger increase in intangible asset creation than acquisition investments. Full article

Brownfield redevelopment projects are often perceived as more risky than greenfield investment, and financing opportunities may be more limited and expensive. Different financial support projects have been developed to support regeneration projects, and empirical evidence has shown that all buildings near the intervention area may benefit from an increase in prices once the brownfield project is complete. The article considers the Connecticut market and evaluates the characteristics of the brownfield projects that had access to a financial support program (loan or grant), the impact of the regeneration process on the liquidity of the housing market, and the gap between the price and the appraisal value of the residential unit. Target areas for this type of financing program are mainly characterized by low income, a high density of population, a high incidence of homeowners, and a high crime rate. Once completed, the brownfield requalification has an impact on the housing market because the brownfield recovery reduces the number of house sales due to the increase in the average price in the surrounding area and makes the selling price more consistent with the appraisal valuation. The empirical evidence provided may be useful for public institutions that are suffering from budget constraints and have to prioritize areas for financial support solutions. Full article

Nordic and West Balkan countries are major investment regions in Europe for greenfield and brownfield mineral exploration; however, the availability of qualified technical, scientific and managerial personnel involved in the whole mineral cycle is limited, especially in West Balkan countries. The partners of the TIMREX EIT RawMaterials-labeled MSc program have developed a joint curriculum focused on innovative raw materials prospecting and exploration methods, with strong innovation and entrepreneurial components. The program incorporates new exploration techniques and methodologies, portable and more highly sensitive equipment, robotized exploration equipment and the processing and interpreting of large, multidimensional datasets. The TIMREX curriculum was built around the ideal mineral exploration program, as suggested by raw materials stakeholders and orientated to field geology, exploration techniques and data processing, and also includes elements of sustainability, transversal societal and regulatory aspects. The program also focuses on EIT Overarching Learning Outcomes (OLO-s), which are embedded as core elements of the curriculum (innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability, creativity, leadership and intercultural competencies). Significant contributions to the OLOs also arise from cross-organizational program elements, including the Exploration Entrepreneurship course, summer field camp, the Internship and the Social and Civic internship. Full article

The intensification of countries’ growth causes the depletion of natural resources, biodiversity degradation, ecological imbalances, damage, and disasters. The aggravation of ecological issues requires the development of mechanisms for simultaneous achievement of economic, social, and ecological goals. The energy sector is the core direction of economic decarbonization. Therefore, green economic growth requires economic development due to the extension of innovative technologies for renewable energies and relevant investment for that. The study aims to test the hypothesis on the impact of green field investment on green economic growth. The object of the research was countries in the European Union (EU) for 2006–2020. This study applied the Malmquist-Luenberger Global Productivity Index to estimate green economic growth. It considers the resources available for the production process in the country (labor, capital, energy), the desired outcome (gross domestic product) and undesirable results (emissions to the environment) of this process. The study applied the Tobit model to test the hypothesis. The findings confirm the spatial heterogeneity of green economic growth among the EU countries. The asymmetry in technological efficiency and progress limits the efficacy of green innovations. At the same time, the obtained data confirm the research hypothesis. It is shown that along with green investments, economic openness and the efficiency of public governance have a positive effect on the green economic growth of countries. The findings highlight the importance of attracting green investments to increase green innovations in renewable energy, which boost green economic growth. This study explored the linear and direct effects of green investment on the green economic growth while eliminating the transmission impact of other mediating factors. It should be noted that further research should analyze the nonlinear impact of green investment on the green economic growth and the mediating effect, which could be caused by other variables (corruption, governance efficiency, green innovations, etc.). Full article

Temperatures worldwide continue to climb, while carbon emissions have exceeded previous records. To achieve environmental sustainability, countries with the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement (COP26) demonstrate sophisticated technical expertise and deploy environmentally driven technologies, such as greenfield investment and renewable energy infrastructure. This proposal presents an intriguing opportunity for policymakers to identify the distinct characteristics of institutional reforms and green energy sources that may be used to mitigate carbon emissions. Governance regulatory factors, foreign direct investment (FDI), renewable energy consumption (REC), research and development expenditures, urbanization, and carbon emissions are examined in Pakistan. The study estimated the short- and long-run association between the variables using the ARDL bounds testing method for 1996Q1 to 2020Q4. In the short run, in terms of carbon emissions and economic output, the country has an upturned cord environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). The race-to-the-bottom concept holds for countries with U-shaped EKCs in the long term. The negative correlation between overseas investment and environmental damage supports the environmental halo hypothesis. Investment in research and technology may reduce emissions, even though urbanization increases them. Future and present REC are often intertwined with carbon footprints. Carbon emissions are also strongly connected with indicators of institutional quality (IQ), such as procedural efficiency, administrative effectiveness, and political unrest. The research findings demonstrated unidirectional Granger causality running from urbanization, government effectiveness, economic growth, and R&D expenditures to carbon emissions to validate urban-led emissions, institutional-led emissions, growth-led emissions, and innovation-led emissions in a country. Furthermore, R&D expenditure Granger causality was linked to inbound FDI, while government effectiveness Granger causality was linked to REC and R&D expenditures. Following the COP26 guidelines for achieving shared prosperity, the study concluded that good governance reforms, R&D expenditures, greenfield investment, and REC promote environmental sustainability and maintain air quality. Full article

The progressive development of shopping centers in the world affects the urban structure of cities. These facilities are constantly evolving, which also entails changes in the way their vicinity is shaped. In this context, this article deals with the trend in the way of locating and developing shopping center areas, showing the changes taking place over the years. The subject of investigations are the areas of Kraków’s shopping centers—their spatial distribution and the way the land is developed. The aim of the research was to characterize and assess the spatial development of the analyzed shopping centers, to determine the trends in the location and characteristic urban indicators. This made it possible to verify whether possible changes in the way new investments of this type are shaped should be sought in order to improve the quality of the urban environment. To assess the spatial distribution of shopping centers, standard deviation ellipse analysis was used, as well as the nearest neighbor method. In order to determine the parameters of development of shopping centers, basic urban indicators were used, i.e., building plot ratio (BPR), floor area ratio (FAR), and green plot ratio (GPR). Spatial analysis was performed using QGIS software. Studies have shown that brownfield investments are scattered along the north–south axis of the city, while greenfield investments are located at a greater distance from its central area. Over the years, there has been a gradual concentration of shopping centers, but they are still characterized by dispersion. The results of analyses of changes in the land development of their areas indicate that over the years there has been an imperceptible trend of creating objects occupying an increasing part of the investment plot. In turn, the share of total leaf area of greenery is slightly reduced. With the increase in distance from the city center, indicators regarding the floor area and gross floor area of shopping centers are clearly decreasing. On the other hand, the share of greenery increases mildly, although this index remains at a level not exceeding 20%. These results indicate the need to take action to enforce a greater share of greenery within the areas of shopping centers and the need to care for the quality of their surroundings in order to ensure sustainable spatial development of the city. Full article

Floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) provide a flexible and competitive energy distribution option when it comes to the regasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG). FSRU projects have become more and more popular, attracting the interest of investors, energy authorities, and governments; therefore, the project feasibility in terms of risks and profitability are a major concern. This paper deals with the appraisal of a greenfield LNG infrastructure project, where usually, decision complexity deals with the high number and different expectation of stakeholders, the capital-intensive financing nature, and the business risks in the project life cycle. Conventional wisdom is to provide a coherent, compact, and well-structured appraisal modelling framework, adjusted to FSRU technical, structural, and operational features on one hand; and business risks, long-term life cycle, and investment attractiveness on the other. Appraisal modelling structure and outputs are considered to provide key messages to the decisions involved and interested parties toward the project feasibility and the associated investment risks for the implementation of the FSRU project. The proposed modelling framework was applied to the Alexandroupolis FSRU project, where the first discussion was many years ago, but the existing conditions in the energy market are raising the interest for developing energy distribution facilities globally. Full article

At present, concerns regarding climate change are common, especially in countries more vulnerable to environmental degradation. Greenhouse gases, including carbon emissions, are mainly considered to deteriorate the environment. Despite substantial agreement on many environmental issues, there are also important differences between regions and countries, and often, within nations. Accordingly, this study aims to examine the environmental performance of South and East Asian countries and its association with trade and other economic variables. Panel regression techniques and robust checks are used to examine the data, which covers 15 years from 2002 to 2016. The findings suggest an extensive negative association between trade liberalization and the environmental performance of selected countries. It is also shown that climate change performance is an important channel for the overall environmental change. The results regarding heterogeneous differences affirm the concept of sustainability and the pollution halo hypothesis. However, it is suggested that each country should make an effort to improve its environmental performance along with economic development. The role of green innovation and renewable energy is very crucial in this regard. The outcomes of this study could be helpful for researchers and policymakers to form better policies regarding the environment and climate change. Full article

Innovation is crucial for firms’ sustainable development. However, the original motivation of innovation in China is insufficient and the key technology is controlled by other countries. Outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) is an important strategic choice in emerging economies to seek overseas advantageous technical knowledge and to participate in global competition. With the further development of China’s “go global” strategy, OFDI flows have risen considerably. Whether OFDI can promote firms’ innovation levels and whether OFDI entry modes (greenfield investment and cross-border M&A) have the same impact are still major issues to be solved. Therefore, we constructed a mathematical model and adopted the propensity score matching double difference method to analyze the impact and mechanism of OFDI on firms’ innovation. The results show that OFDI has a significant effect on innovation quantity, quality, and efficiency, and it has not led to innovative strategic behavior. Further research shows that cross-border M&A has a stronger effect on innovation quality than greenfield investment, and both have a sustainable innovation effect. Over time, the gap between the impact of greenfield investment and cross-border M&A on innovation quality has gradually narrowed. From the perspective of mechanism, the two entry modes of OFDI are beneficial to firms’ access to government resources and to promote innovation quality, while government resources have a stronger mediating effect on cross-border M&A firms. This paper deepens the research on the influence mechanism of OFDI entry modes on firms’ innovation levels, while also providing theoretical and practical support for the selection of OFDI modes and innovation strategies for firms. Full article