Search Results (107)

To systematically reveal the influence mechanisms and spatial effects of industrial intellectual property (IP) reform strategies and manufacturing craftsmanship spirit on regional energy intensity, this study aims to provide theoretical support and practical pathways for emerging market economies pursuing dual goals of energy efficiency governance and manufacturing transformation. Based on a “technology–culture synergistic innovation ecology” theoretical framework, the study deepens the understanding of energy intensity governance and introduces two spatial weight matrices—the economic distance matrix and the nested economic–geographic matrix—to uncover the spatial heterogeneity of policy and cultural effects. Using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2010 to 2022 (excluding Tibet, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan), we construct an index of manufacturing craftsmanship spirit (CSM) and its four dimensions—excellence in detail, persistent dedication, breakthrough orientation, and innovation inheritance—via the entropy method. Empirical analysis is conducted through Spatial Difference-in-Differences (SDID) and Double Machine Learning (DML) models. The results show that: (1) Industrial IP reform strategies significantly reduce local energy intensity through improved property rights definition and technology transaction mechanisms, but may increase energy intensity in economically proximate regions due to intensified technological competition. (2) All four dimensions of craftsmanship spirit indirectly mitigate regional energy intensity via distinct pathways, with particularly strong mediating effects from persistent dedication and innovation inheritance. In contrast, breakthrough orientation shows no significant impact, possibly due to limitations from the current stage of the technology lifecycle. (3) Spatial spillover effects are heterogeneous: under the nested economic–geographic matrix, IP reform strategies reduce neighboring regions’ energy intensity through synergistic effects, while under the economic distance matrix, competitive spillovers lead to an increase in adjacent energy intensity. Based on these findings, we propose the following: deepening IP reform strategies to build a technology–culture synergistic ecosystem; enhancing regional policy coordination to avoid technology lock-in; systematically cultivating the core of craftsmanship spirit; and establishing a dynamic incentive mechanism for breakthrough orientation. These measures can jointly drive systemic improvements in regional energy efficiency. Full article

Cultivating the best business environment ecosystem is important for advancing market-oriented reforms and achieving sustainable industrial transformation. How to quantify the business environment is also a relatively complex topic. Based on urban ecology theory, this study constructs a comprehensive evaluation framework for assessing urban business environment development. Using the entropy weight method and spatial autocorrelation analysis, we examine the time series and spatial evolution of the business environment in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area from 2008 to 2021. Meanwhile, we further explore the main factors that influence the development level of the business environment. Finally, some suggestions are put forward to improve the business environment. The results show that (1) the development level of the business environment has gradually improved during the sample period, with stable growth from 2008 to 2015, followed by rapid development after 2015; (2) from different dimensions, there is an imbalance in the business environment development among cities within the Greater Bay Area, with core cities performing better than others; (3) from a spatial perspective, the business environment presents a “core-periphery” pattern, with higher levels clustered around the Pearl River Estuary, indicating strong spatial agglomeration. This research provides theoretical support and policy recommendations for the Three-Year Action Plan for Creating a World-Class Business Environment in the Greater Bay Area. Full article

The ongoing degradation of global forests has severely weakened ecosystem service functions, and traditional judicial remedies have struggled to quantify intangible ecological losses. China has become an important testing ground for restorative justice through the establishment of specialized environmental courts and the practice of environmental public interest litigation. Since 2015, China has actively explored and institutionalized the application of the concept of restorative justice in its environmental justice reform. This concept emphasizes compensating environmental damages through actual ecological restoration acts rather than relying solely on financial compensation. This shift reflects a deep understanding of the limitations of traditional environmental justice and an institutional response to China’s ecological civilization construction, providing critical support for forest ecosystem restoration and enabling ecological restoration activities, such as replanting and re-greening, habitat reconstruction, etc., to be enforced through judicial decisions. This study conducts a qualitative analysis of judicial rulings in forest restoration cases to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of restorative justice in compensating for losses in forest ecosystem service functions. The findings reveal the following: (1) restoration measures in judicial practice are disconnected from the types of ecosystem services available; (2) non-market values and long-term cumulative damages are systematically underestimated, with monitoring mechanisms exhibiting fragmented implementation and insufficient effectiveness; (3) management cycles are set in violation of ecological restoration principles, and acceptance standards lack function-oriented indicators; (4) participation of key stakeholders is severely lacking, and local knowledge and professional expertise have not been integrated. In response, this study proposes a restorative judicial framework oriented toward forest ecosystem services, utilizing four mechanisms: independent recognition of legal interests, function-matched restoration, application of scientific assessment tools, and multi-stakeholder collaboration. This framework aims to drive a paradigm shift from formal restoration to substantive functional recovery, providing theoretical support and practical pathways for environmental judicial reform and global forest governance. Full article

The energy quota trading policy is a pivotal market-oriented environmental regulation policy that propels the reform of the energy structure. Utilizing panel data from 30 provinces in China covering the period from 2012 to 2022, this study employed a difference-in-differences model to systematically examine the influence of the energy quota trading policy on the decarbonization of energy consumption, and further explores two transmission mechanisms of green technology innovation and energy consumption intensity through mechanism tests. The study reveals several key findings: (1) The energy quota trading policy significantly enhances the decarbonization of energy consumption. (2) This policy encourages the adoption of clean energy by fostering green technological innovation and decreasing overall energy consumption. As a result, it makes a considerable contribution to the decarbonization process in energy usage. (3) The heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that in areas with low levels of industrialization and plentiful resources, as well as within the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the central and western regions, the effects of the policy are significantly more pronounced. Conversely, in regions characterized by high industrialization and limited resources, particularly in the eastern region, the effectiveness of the policy is comparatively diminished. Furthermore, this study not only offers empirical evidence supporting the optimization and enhancement of the energy quota trading policy but also presents recommendations for improving the trading market, regional policies, and fostering green technological innovation. Full article

The distortion of energy prices has become an important obstacle to the high-quality development of China’s economy. Moreover, energy price distortions are not merely a domestic issue. They may trigger carbon leakage by diverting emissions-intensive production to countries with cheaper energy. Although the existing literature has extensively examined the effects of energy price distortions, two significant research gaps remain. First, most studies treat energy price distortions merely as an influencing factor, lacking a systematic analysis that places it at the core. Second, the spatial correlation characteristics of energy price distortions are often overlooked. This study measures the degree of energy price distortions across Chinese provinces from 2000 to 2022 and employs methods such as the Global Moran’s I, Local Moran’s I, and kernel density estimation to systematically analyze the spatial correlation, spatial distribution of coordination indices, and dynamic evolution patterns of these distortions. The results reveal that: (1) the overall degree of energy price distortions in China exhibited a trend of rising first and then declining, with significant regional disparities; (2) the regional gap followed an “expansion-contraction” trajectory; (3) there is notable spatial autocorrelation, with high-distortion areas concentrated in Northeast China, the middle reaches of the Yellow River, and Northwest China; and (4) the dynamic evolution suggests that distortion levels in high- and medium-value regions may continue to decline, while those in low-value regions may increase. This study fills a critical gap in the systematic spatial analysis of energy price distortions and provides new empirical evidence and policy insights for advancing market-oriented reforms in energy markets. Full article

This study explores how carbon pricing and electricity market liberalization jointly contribute to China’s sustainable energy transition. Using a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model (CEEEA2.0), we simulate three policy scenarios—business as usual, emissions trading scheme (ETS) with regulated electricity prices, and ETS with market-based pricing—under a unified emissions cap. The results demonstrate that electricity market liberalization enhances carbon pricing efficiency by eliminating price distortions, leading to a 0.06% increase in GDP and a 12% reduction in emission abatement costs. However, liberalization also raises electricity and consumer prices, disproportionately affecting rural and low-income households. These findings underscore the need to balance economic efficiency and social equity in sustainability-oriented energy reforms. Our analysis emphasizes the importance of designing inclusive and just transition policies to ensure that carbon mitigation efforts support long-term environmental, economic, and social sustainability goals. Full article

Over the past decade, the Chongqing land ticket model has played a pivotal role in the market-oriented reform of rural land factors and serves as a representative practice of the TDR program in China. This paper constructs a systematic evaluation framework from two perspectives—policy effectiveness and citizen feedback—to comprehensively understand the policy effect of this model. The study employs methods of policy texts bibliometrics and content analysis based on big data. The results indicate that the effectiveness of land ticket policies exhibit significant fluctuations, with peaks aligning with milestones in the model’s development. Policy measures are well-aligned with the goals set forth. However, policymakers in Chongqing have historically focused more on institutional construction within the land ticket model, only recently shifting attention to the protection of farmers’ rights and interests. This imbalance may have led to potential risks regarding the loss of farmers’ property rights. The analysis of citizen feedback from the online space further took into account the impact of policy content on its audience (farmers), revealing that shortening the compensation payment time rather than increasing the compensation amount is the most common and critical demand among farmers. This underscores the urgent need for a policy-related response from the government to meet farmer’s demands for “procedural justice”. Our conclusions address a gap in the existing literature by integrating policy text analysis with public opinion, thereby offering referential insights into understanding the evolutionary process, policy features, and implementation effects of TDR program in China. Full article

This study examines the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on agricultural land conversion. Using a newspaper-based index of EPU and a comprehensive panel dataset covering 270 prefecture-level cities in China, we estimate a city fixed effects model to explore this relationship. Our results indicate that a one-standard-deviation increase in EPU leads to a 22.2% increase in the conversion of agricultural land to urban residential, commercial, and industrial uses. This finding suggests that the surge in EPU triggered by the global financial crisis accounts for approximately 45% of the increase in agricultural land conversion. The adverse effect on agricultural land preservation mainly stems from intensified fiscal pressures and heightened demands on local governments to meet economic growth targets. To address potential endogeneity concerns, we employ the one-period lagged U.S. EPU index and its temporal variations as an instrument for China’s EPU, leveraging cross-country spillover effects. Our instrumental variable estimates confirm the validity of the land conversion effect and its underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, we find that the effects of EPU are particularly pronounced in cities located in non-eastern China and those that depend heavily on fixed asset investment for local economic development. Finally, our analysis of potential policy interventions to mitigate EPU-induced agricultural land loss suggests that strengthening market-oriented reforms and reducing province-level quotas on agricultural land conversion can effectively offset the impact of rising EPU. Full article

Industrial prosperity is the prerequisite and foundation of rural revitalization, while rural collective operating construction land (COCL), as an important resource for rural industrial development, has significant theoretical and practical guiding significance regarding whether its market-oriented reform can promote rural industrial integration (RII). This study innovatively combines the synthetic control method (SCM) and mediation effect model to assess the impact of rural collective operating construction land entering the market (COCLEM) on RII, using panel data from 86 counties in Hunan Province (2011–2022), and its underlying mechanisms. This study finds that COCLEM significantly enhances RII, and this conclusion remains robust after a series of tests. A mechanism analysis indicates that COCLEM primarily promotes RII through population agglomeration, fiscal support, and technological upgrading. Furthermore, this study reveals that COCLEM effectively facilitates the extension of the agricultural industry chain and promotes the development of agricultural services. Nevertheless, the improvement of rural infrastructure still requires policy guidance and sustained investment to provide more robust support for RII. Therefore, policymakers should actively formulate a COCLEM policy framework, enhance rural public services, and increase infrastructure investment to continuously promote regional population agglomeration. Local governments should be responsible for ensuring policy implementation and financial support. Additionally, emphasis should be placed on the role of COCLEM in advancing agricultural technology to support RII. Compared with existing research, this study provides new empirical methods and theoretical insights for detailed research on the development of RII. Full article

China’s marketization refers to the systemic reform process of transitioning from a planned economy to a market economy, which has significantly contributed to the country’s economic development. However, the interest-oriented nature of marketization may also somewhat erode social morality. Given that empathy is the basis of morality and prosocial behavior, the present study produced a cross-temporal meta-analysis of 89 studies using the Chinese version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index as a measuring instrument and outlined the empathy changes among 48,400 Chinese college students from 2009 to 2019. Then, this study tested the conjecture that empathy is weakening in marketization process. The results reveal that Chinese college students’ empathy level declined over time and was negatively correlated with the marketization level. This finding contributes to understanding the relationship between the marketization reform and moral psychology change. Full article

The marketization of data elements is a critical step in harnessing the potential of data as a “new” economic element. This process is essential for driving the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises and achieving sustainable development. Using data from listed manufacturing enterprises (2013–2022), this study applied the difference-in-differences method to analyze how the marketization of data elements accelerates digital transformation. The results indicated that data trading platforms play a significant role by lowering enterprise costs, easing financing constraints, fostering digital technology innovation, and promoting the growth of the digital service industry. The impact varies across regions, ownership structures, and executive backgrounds. This research offers fresh insights into facilitating the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises and provides practical guidance for policymakers to advance the market-oriented reform of data elements and enhance enterprises’ digital capabilities. Full article

In a time of rapid economic development, sustainable development is increasingly becoming the primary concern of governments. Taking the human capital accumulation and spillover model as an analytical tool, we use interprovincial panel data for 2014–2023 to estimate the degree of contribution of higher education to the sustainable development of the economy. Instrumental variables are introduced to alleviate the problem of endogeneity. An urbanization index is also introduced, as well as an interaction term formed by the marketization index and the independent variable to explore the extent of the contribution of higher education to the sustainable development of the regional economy. There are regional differences in the contribution of higher education to sustainable economic development. The study shows that higher education has a significant positive effect on regional economic sustainability. The higher the level of urbanization and the higher the level of marketization, the more significant the positive effect of higher education on economic sustainability. We should continuously increase investment in higher education, optimize the structure and layout of higher education, promote the synergistic development of higher education and urbanization, and deepen the interaction between higher education and market-oriented reform in order to actively promote higher education to serve the sustainable development of regional economies. Full article

Since the reform and opening-up, village communities in China have undergone significant transformations alongside rapid modernization. The reconstruction of these communities is a key issue in China’s rural revitalization efforts and necessitates an analysis of the evolutionary characteristics and drivers of village community order. This study defines the concept of village community order and develops corresponding evaluation indicators and quantitative methods. Taking Puqian Village in Ji’an County, Jiangxi Province, as a case study, the research explores the evolution of village community order across distinct development stages—1978, 1985, 2003, and 2022. Data for the study were collected through participatory rural appraisal, remote sensing image processing, and GIS spatial analysis. The results reveal that since the reform and opening-up, Puqian Village has experienced increasing spatial complexity, disordered spatial structures, unbalanced population dynamics, and a weakening social network. These changes were especially pronounced during the periods of market-oriented development and urban–rural integration. The evolution of village community order is influenced by factors such as livelihood transformations, the decline of local culture, the dissolution of public authority, and weakened governance structures. By analyzing village community order from the dual perspectives of social and spatial order, this study provides a systematic framework for understanding village community changes. Full article

This study investigates the mechanisms by which service-oriented transformation affects employee satisfaction with performance evaluation systems within the context of China’s electricity market reform. Using CGN New Energy’s Guangxi Branch as a case study and applying the grounded theory method, the research systematically analyzes employees’ perceptions of fairness, transparency, and career development during the transition from a product-oriented to a service-oriented model, based on in-depth interviews and surveys. The findings reveal that while servitization enhances employee skill development and career satisfaction, it also introduces challenges, such as increased work pressure and the demand for more transparent performance evaluation systems. This study provides valuable insights into optimizing management practices and performance evaluation systems in renewable energy companies, contributing both theoretically and practically to the literature on organizational transformation in the energy sector. These conclusions are not only significant for Chinese enterprises but also offer important reference points for global energy companies undergoing similar transitions. Full article

This study developed a theoretical framework on the relationship between land marketization and industrial high-quality development (HQD) to guide the formulation of policies for advancing new industrialization and high-level manufacturing capabilities. An evaluation system was constructed that can assess regional industrial HQD in seven dimensions: innovation, efficiency, structural optimization, financial risk control, openness, social welfare, and greenness. Based on data related to urban primary land markets and different industries in Guangdong province, China, from 2007 to 2021, the effect of land marketization on industrial HQD was explored using the evaluation models of land marketization and industrial HQD, the Theil index, a panel data model, and the difference generalized method of moments. The findings revealed that land marketization and industrial HQD have increased gradually in Guangdong. In the Pearl River Delta (PRD), both factors have increased rapidly, albeit with low levels of land marketization and high levels of industrial HQD. Notably, the province-wide scores for financial risk control and openness have declined. In the PRD, scores for efficient and financial risk control have consistently been lower than those outside the PRD. Positive relationships were discovered between land marketization and various aspects of industrial HQD, including industrial innovation, efficiency, structural optimization, greenness, and social welfare. Conversely, land marketization was found to have negative relationships with financial risk control and openness. Compared with that in the non-PRD, land marketization in the PRD was more conducive to industrial HQD, innovation, efficiency, structural optimization, and openness but less conducive to greenness, social welfare, and financial risk control. This research concluded that land marketization can promote industrial HQD through rising land prices and an open and fair environment for land market trading. The results of this study enrich the theoretical knowledge of the effects of industrial HQD in China; thus, they can be used as a reference in the formulation of industrial HQD policies related to market-oriented reform and land allocation in China. Full article