Search Results (1,390)

As the main drivers of the market economy, enterprises must fully grasp the importance and urgency of building an ecological civilization and hasten the transition to green practices. Due to the fundamental goal of enterprises being to maximize profits, the cost-effectiveness of enterprises is directly related to their initiative and implementation effectiveness in carrying out green transformation. This article uses panel data from heavily polluting companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges in China from 2011 to 2020 to empirically test the cost-economic effects of corporate green transformation (CGT). Results reveal: (1) CGT has a positive effect on firm performance, and managerial incentives and capital intensity can strengthen the positive relationship between CGT and firm performance. In addition, in economically developed regions with high levels of environmental regulation, the green transformation of heavily polluting enterprises with lower management agency costs has a more significant positive impact on corporate performance. (2) Environmental costs mediate the link between CGT and firm performance, with the mediating effect of corporate environmental costs playing a role only in the non-three major economic circles. Full article

Coal mining has historically been a central economic, cultural, and social cornerstone of Appalachian communities. The decline of the coal industry, driven by technological changes, competition from natural gas and renewable energy, environmental regulations, and evolving energy markets, has created major economic and environmental challenges for coal-dependent regions. This study examines Kentucky residents’ perceptions of coal decline and how socio-demographic factors shape environmental concern. Data was collected from 685 Kentucky residents through a statewide online survey conducted in December 2023. Ordered logistic regression was used to examine the influence of gender, age, rural residence, and political affiliation on concerns regarding climate change, environmental degradation, extinction of endangered species, air pollution, and water pollution. Respondents identified health and safety concerns, cleaner energy alternatives, government incentives, and technological changes as major contributors to coal decline, while climate change was viewed as less significant. The findings also reveal support for workforce retention and training in sectors such as construction, transportation, utility work, and renewable energy. Female respondents expressed high levels of environmental concern, while rural residents and Republicans reported lower concern regarding climate change and environmental degradation. Full article

With the large-scale integration of renewable energy and the deepening of electricity market reform, uncertainty in power system operation has increased significantly. This creates new challenges for multiple generation companies when they work together to develop generation schedules that balance economic efficiency and low-carbon goals. Most existing studies assume fixed loads and ignore the active regulation capability of the demand side under price signals and incentive signals. To address this gap, this paper proposes a low-carbon generation schedule optimization method for multiple generation companies. The method considers heterogeneous flexible loads. First, the paper decomposes flexible load adjustability into two components: price elasticity-based load shifting and incentive-based adjustable capacity. Using the price elasticity matrix method, the market clearing price serves as a known input. The load shifting amount under price elasticity regulation is pre-calculated for each park and treated as an exogenous parameter in the generation schedule model. This allows generation companies to directly use demand-side flexibility information during the planning stage. Second, the paper uses the proportion of residential and industrial loads as a core parameter. It characterizes the heterogeneity of four parks along two dimensions: elasticity coefficients and upper limits of adjustable capacity. Parks with a higher proportion of industrial loads have stronger flexible regulation capability. This result is consistent with real physical characteristics. It also provides a quantitative basis for generation companies to utilize flexible resources differently across parks and optimize their output arrangements. Finally, the paper uses the upward and downward adjustable capacity of each park as decision variables. It builds a multi-generator low-carbon generation schedule optimization model with heterogeneous flexible loads. Generator output constraints, power balance constraints, flexible load adjustable capacity constraints, and carbon quota constraints are all integrated into a single-level mixed-integer linear programming framework. This framework can be solved efficiently using commercial solvers. It helps generation companies develop optimal generation schedules that balance economic efficiency and low-carbon targets. Case study results show that combining price elasticity regulation with incentive-based adjustable capacity can effectively improve both the economic performance and low-carbon performance of generation schedules. Full article

This article analyses trading-performance patterns in a stock market simulation conducted with 134 second-year students at the University of Mons (Belgium) on 11 December 2025. Participants had a virtual capital of 100,000 euros and were free to trade CAC 40 securities without any restrictions on the number or volume of transactions. An academic incentive scheme, combining a participation bonus and bonuses for the three best portfolios, created a tournament-style environment with continuous ranking feedback. This feature is considered as part of the experimental context rather than as a separately identified causal mechanism. We estimate a quadratic model linking performance to activity, measured by the number of mean-centered transactions to reduce the collinearity between the first-degree term and its square, and control exposure via the average percentage of cash in the portfolio, portfolio variability (measured as the standard deviation of portfolio value) and the average trade size. Breusch–Pagan and White tests indicate heteroscedasticity, justifying a robust inference. The results highlight a convex relationship between activity and performance: the marginal association is initially negative but becomes positive above a model-implied upper-tail level corresponding to approximately 46 transactions. This value should not be interpreted as a behavioral level or as a trading rule. The percentage of cash in the portfolio and the average trade size are negatively associated with performance, while the portfolio variability does not show a statistically significant association with performance. Overall, the results indicate heterogeneous trading patterns rather than a single activity–performance profile. Full article

Energy communities (ECs) are becoming a key institutional instrument for decentralizing the European energy transition, yet their implementation remains constrained by fragmented legal interpretation, uneven national transposition, and unresolved socio-technical coordination problems. This review synthesizes the peer-reviewed literature, EU primary legal texts, and national legislation to clarify the distinction between Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) and Citizen Energy Communities (CECs), alongside the amendment relationship between the RED II and RED III directives. The analysis demonstrates that the scalability of these initiatives depends less on theoretical legal recognition and more on aligning operational frameworks, including metering, settlement, cybersecurity, and equitable allocation rules. The Romanian case illustrates this challenge clearly: rapid prosumer growth creates valuable distributed generation but also exposes physical grid constraints, asymmetric socio-economic participation capacity, and weak experience with cooperative energy governance. To address these vulnerabilities, this paper contributes a focused analytical framework linking energy justice, peer-to-peer game-theoretic modeling, and the strategic integration of “anchor-prosumers.” The study argues that larger renewable self-consumers can act as stabilizing community anchors when internal energy prices are designed between wholesale export values and retail import prices, thereby improving both producer incentives and consumer affordability. Future research developments, including targeted surveys and longitudinal empirical validations, will sustain this claim and optimize the socio-economic resilience of decentralized energy markets. Full article

Achieving long-term urban sustainability requires energy subsidy frameworks that evolve with changing technological conditions and system needs. Renewable energy subsidy regimes have played a decisive role in accelerating building-integrated solar photovoltaic deployment, but many were designed for an earlier expansion phase focused mainly on increasing generation capacity and reducing technology costs. As electricity systems move toward an integration phase characterized by higher renewable penetration, flexibility constraints, storage needs, and cross-sectoral coordination, generation-centric subsidy architectures may become increasingly misaligned with system-level requirements. This study conducts a structured comparative analysis of subsidy design in Hong Kong, Chinese Mainland, and Australia, examining legal foundations, target scope, incentive structures, and technology orientation across expansion and integration phases. Despite major differences in governance systems and market organization, the findings show a common pattern: Principal subsidy instruments remain anchored in output-based performance metrics, while storage, hydrogen, and hybrid technologies are generally supported through supplementary rather than core mechanisms. The study argues that this policy layering may limit technological inclusiveness and reduce alignment between subsidy design and evolving system needs. It therefore proposes a system-value-oriented comparative framework for subsidy redesign that recognizes flexibility, reliability, and integrated clean energy performance in the built environment. Full article

In the current context, where sustainability has become a global imperative, emerging markets have increasingly incorporated green finance as a strategic pillar to foster long-term growth and stability. This study examines the evolution, trends, and key challenges of sustainable investment in emerging economies, with a particular focus on the integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. A systematic literature review was conducted using Scopus and Web of Science, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol, based on a sample of 399 articles published over the past decade. The findings reveal a significant expansion in academic output on ESG investments in emerging markets, with an average annual growth rate of 14.06% and an international co-authorship rate of 37.34%. China, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the United States emerge as leading contributors, particularly since 2020. However, critical gaps persist, including inconsistencies in ESG ratings and the limited adaptation of ESG frameworks to local socioeconomic and institutional conditions. Future research should focus on strengthening public policy frameworks, designing effective fiscal incentives, assessing the distributive implications of green finance, and leveraging technologies such as fintech, blockchain, and artificial intelligence to enhance ESG rating consistency, transparency, risk measurement, and the overall efficiency of sustainable investments. Full article

Active labor market policies (ALMPs) targeting self-employment have become a well-established and relevant instrument within employment promotion strategies across many European countries. However, despite their strategic and economic importance, there is limited evidence on their potential performance prior to implementation. This paper aims to address this gap by conducting an ex-ante cost–benefit simulation of different types of ALMPs designed to promote self-employment in Spain. The methodology is based on estimating public costs per beneficiary and quantifiable potential benefits, including avoided welfare payments, additional tax revenues, and the generation of economic activity. These benefits are adjusted using two key parameters: additionality (the proportion of the effect genuinely attributable to the policy) and persistence (the duration of the impact over time). In addition, three sensitivity scenarios (conservative, baseline, and favorable) are developed. The results suggest that financing and access to credit policies exhibit the most robust returns, while direct subsidies, general tax incentives, and emergency policies are more sensitive to intervention design features. Consequently, the effectiveness of ALMPs targeting self-employment depends fundamentally on their ability to align with the specific frictions faced by potential entrepreneurs and on the persistence of their effects. Full article

To promote the sustainable development of agriculture and reduce resource waste, this paper investigates sustainable financing strategies for a green fresh agri-food supply chain. We employ a purely theoretical Stackelberg game model and numerical simulations based on hypothetical parameters to develop three financing models for a supply chain consisting of one capital-constrained farmer and one retailer, considering consumers’ dual sensitivity to product freshness and greenness. Analytical and numerical results reveal that: (1) with low financing rates, internal financing effectively alleviates under investment in preservation, leading to higher wholesale/retail prices. In a green-sensitive market, the resulting price premium compensates for cost increases, avoiding the “low quality–low price” trap under external financing. (2) The retailer’s total profit decreases as the internal financing rate rises; higher interest income cannot offset demand loss caused by reduced preservation effort. Thus, a low- or zero-interest strategy maximizes the retailer’s operational profit. (3) As consumer sensitivity to freshness and greenness increases, profit growth under internal financing displays convexity. However, under extremely high freshness sensitivity, external financing yields stronger marginal incentives, suggesting that retailers should adjust profit allocation in the high-end market. The findings provide theoretical guidance for financing mode selection and practical insights for promoting green agricultural sustainable development. Full article

Although the goal of “sustainable” urbanism has generated an impressive array of international frameworks and declarations, systemic progress remains elusive. A prior paper by the author identified “lock-in” as a central cause: the economic incentives, professional standards, codes, and institutional feedback structures that reinforce unsustainable patterns of urban development despite stated commitments to reform. This paper advances that diagnosis by asking what sustains the lock-in itself, and what structural intervention can address it at the root. We argue that the answer lies in recognizing a fundamental deficit in the feedback architecture governing urban development—a systematic failure to account for two categories of capital on which human welfare depends: natural and resource capital, whose depletion standard metrics render invisible, and human and value-added capital, including the built public realm and the economies of place that markets systematically undersupply. Standard welfare-economic instruments, including Pigouvian taxes, address this at the level of price signals but are unable to fully resolve it there, because multiple forms of goods—referred to as “polycapital”—are structurally interrelated and resist single scalar remedies. The paper proceeds to advance two complementary conclusions: first, that a generative modeling methodology, capable of encoding the interrelated, multi-scale character of polycapital structures, is a necessary precondition for adequate institutional response, and that pattern language methodology provides this capacity; and second, that new transactional mechanisms going substantially beyond Pigouvian instruments—which we outline—represent a necessary direction and a promising research frontier. Full article

This paper considers a multi-period two-sided asymmetric information model with infinitely long-lived sellers and short-lived buyers. I assume that two exogenously given qualities are offered in the market. Each period, a consumer, who is uncertain about the quality of the offered product, observes her pairwise matched seller’s price and a noisy signal of quality that cannot be manipulated by the seller. Prices are fixed and it is common knowledge that consumers are not willing to pay a high price for the low-quality product. A matched seller with a low-quality good can choose to be either honest (by charging the lower market price) or dishonest (by charging the higher price). Sellers’ incentives to misrepresent quality depend on how current trade outcomes affect future access to consumer traffic. I show that the strength of the informational role of prices is non-decreasing in the intensity of competition for future consumer traffic in equilibrium and that consumers do not benefit from more intense competition. Full article

This paper examines how technology blockade affects leader and follower firms’ research and development (R&D) incentives and their cooperation decisions under asymmetric knowledge spillovers, while also exploring the role of government subsidies in mitigating market failures and restoring cooperation incentives. Motivated by the increasing restrictions on knowledge diffusion in high-technology industries, we develop a two-stage game in which firms first choose R&D investment and then compete in quantities under both non-cooperative and cooperative regimes. Our analysis shows that the impact of technology blockade on firms’ R&D investment and profit distribution depends on R&D efficiency and the presence of asymmetric knowledge spillovers. Specifically, under non-cooperative behavior, the interaction between asymmetric spillovers and R&D efficiency generates nonlinear effects on both R&D efforts and profit allocation. Under cooperative regimes, although firms can internalize spillovers, technology blockade reduces coordination benefits and leads to asymmetric profits, resulting in the absence of a self-enforcing cooperation region. Furthermore, our results indicate that government subsidies can partially or fully restore cooperation incentives, thereby increasing R&D investment and enhancing social welfare in most cases. These findings highlight a substitution effect between policy intervention and external technological constraints, emphasizing the importance of targeted subsidies in mitigating the adverse effects of technology blockade on innovation and collaboration. Full article

The rapid growth of the sharing economy has improved resource utilization in car-sharing, yet it has also sharpened market competition and diversified user demand. A persistent obstacle is the low coordination efficiency between asset-heavy operating companies and traffic-driven platforms, whose misaligned objectives waste social resources. This paper uses differential game theory to analyze their dynamic coordination strategies and benefit allocation mechanisms. The Nerlove–Arrow model captures the evolution of brand goodwill, while the company’s decisions on station layout, vehicle dispatch, and pricing, together with the platform’s advertising investment, form the core decision variables in a two-party game framework linking the asset side and the traffic side. Compared with the non-cooperative Nash equilibrium, the cooperative mode removes the double marginalization effect, strengthens the investment incentives of both parties, and raises the system’s steady-state goodwill and total profit, achieving a Pareto improvement. To ground the cooperative framework in rigorous theory, we supply a verification theorem confirming that the linear candidate value functions satisfy the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equations over the entire admissible state space. A formal proof of instantaneous rationality ensures that neither party falls into a cooperation trap on the horizon $[0,T]$, and the asymptotic stability of the steady-state goodwill trajectory is established. We further endogenize the revenue-sharing coefficient through a generalized Nash bargaining model that admits asymmetric bargaining structures, and introduce a Stackelberg leadership benchmark as a third comparative regime. Sensitivity analyses with respect to the discount rate and user heterogeneity confirm the robustness of the findings. A dedicated discussion section bridges the gap between idealized parameterization and data-driven calibration, describing practical pathways via A/B testing, user churn metrics, and econometric estimation of demand parameters. The results offer a scientific decision-making reference for strategic cooperation in the car-sharing industry. Full article

Developing countries in which infrastructure development is heavily dependent on overseas development aid face significant sustainability challenges, including financing gaps and inadequate maintenance. Increasing private-sector investment is crucial for addressing these challenges. This paper proposes an innovative framework linking environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles with a revised joint credit mechanism (JCM) to attract private investment in infrastructure development, particularly in Pacific Island countries facing the climate crisis. Under the revised JCM, by allocating generated carbon credits to participating Japanese companies, rather than the Japanese government, corporations can monetise credits through market transactions, creating compelling economic incentives for private-sector engagement. In ESG-advanced markets, credits serve as strategic instruments for corporate value enhancement beyond revenue generation, while corporations require continuous credit acquisition to sustain investor confidence. Our revised framework provides a sustainable solution to both financing gaps and infrastructure maintenance challenges. Our analysis demonstrates that integrating market dynamics and corporate incentives into bilateral climate mechanisms holds substantial potential for mobilising private capital for sustainable climate infrastructure finance. This approach represents a promising departure from traditional donor-dependent models, effectively aligning corporate interests with sustainable development objectives while advancing national emission reduction commitments. Full article

Demand response (DR) plays a key role in enhancing power system flexibility under increasing renewable penetration, yet most existing approaches rely on aggregate demand models that fail to capture appliance-level heterogeneity. A bilevel programming framework for DR incentive design incorporating non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM)-based flexibility estimation is proposed. A conditional factorial hidden Markov model (CFHMM) is used to disaggregate smart meter data and recover appliance-level consumption patterns, which are then mapped to willingness-to-accept (WTA) values to construct device-informed DR potential functions. These estimates are embedded in a bilevel optimization model, where a retailer determines optimal incentives while accounting for the endogenous impact of demand response on locational marginal prices through market clearing. The model is reformulated as a single-level mixed-integer linear program using Karush–Kuhn–Tucker (KKT) conditions. Case studies using real-world data and the IEEE test system show that the proposed framework produces more effective incentive strategies than aggregate DR modeling, leading to improved DR utilization and higher retailer profitability. Full article