Search Results (611)

Crude oil and grain, as two pivotal global commodities, exhibit significant price co-movement that profoundly affects national economic stability and food security. From the perspective of systems theory, the energy and grain markets do not exist in isolation but rather form a highly coupled complex system, characterized by nonlinear feedback, cross-market risk contagion, and cascading effects. This study systematically investigates the transmission mechanisms from international crude oil prices to the domestic prices of Chinese four major grains, employing the DY spillover index, Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), and a mediation effect framework. The empirical findings reveal three key insights. First, rising international crude oil prices significantly strengthen the pass-through of global grain prices to domestic markets, while simultaneously weakening the effectiveness of domestic price stabilization policies. Second, higher crude oil prices amplify international-to-domestic price spillovers by increasing maritime freight costs, a key channel in global grain trade logistics. Third, elevated oil prices stimulate demand for renewable biofuels, including biodiesel and ethanol, thereby boosting international demand for corn and soybeans and intensifying the transmission of price fluctuations in these commodities to the domestic market. These findings reveal the key pathways through which shocks in the energy market affect food security and highlight the necessity of studying the “energy–food” coupling mechanism within a systems framework, enabling a more comprehensive understanding of cross-market risk transmission. Full article

Exploring the impact of industrial land misallocation (ILM) on sustainable urban development (SUD) helps provide strong empirical support for SUD from the perspective of land factor allocation. Based on panel data from 283 cities between 2009 and 2021, this paper systematically analyzes the impact mechanism and spatial spillover effects of ILM on SUD from the perspective of factor misallocation. The results show that most Chinese cities face a surplus-type misallocation of industrial land, and resource allocation urgently needs optimization. During the study period, the overall level of SUD increased and exhibited a spatial gradient distribution characterized by high levels in the east and low levels in the west. ILM significantly inhibited the improvement of SUD, with the negative impact being particularly pronounced in central-western regions and non-resource-based cities. ILM also showed a significant negative spatial spillover effect. Mechanism analysis found that ILM mainly negatively affected SUD by hindering industrial transformation and upgrading as well as the progress of urban technological innovation. Further research found that the implementation of the policy for exit audits of natural resource assets alleviated the problem of ILM to a certain extent and weakened its adverse effects on SUD. Therefore, deepening efforts to correct ILM is a key measure to break resource allocation barriers and promote SUD. Full article

Against a global backdrop of industrialization and urbanization, precise measurement of multifactor flows and systematic identification of barriers and drivers are critical for optimizing resource allocation in smart regional development. This study develops an integrated geospatial analytic framework that incorporates mobile signaling data and POI data to quantify the intensity, barriers, and driving mechanisms of urban–rural factor flows in Huzhou City at the township scale. Key findings reveal the following. (1) Urban–rural factor flows exhibit significant spatial polarization, with less than 20% of connections accounting for the majority of flow intensity. The structure shows clear core–periphery differentiation, further shaped by inner heterogeneity and metropolitan spillovers. (2) Barriers demonstrate complex and uneven spatial distributions, with 45.37% of the integrated flow intervals experiencing impediments. Critically, some nodes act as both facilitators and obstacles, depending on the flow type and direction, revealing a metamodern tension between promotion and impairment. (3) Economic vitality plays a crucial role in driving urban–rural factor flow, with different factors having complex, often synergistic or nonlinear effects on both single and integrated flows. The study advances the theoretical understanding of heterogeneous spatial structures in urban–rural systems and provides a replicable analytical framework for diagnosing factor flows in small and medium-sized cities. These insights form a critical basis for designing targeted and adaptive regional governance strategies. Full article

Water is the source of life and also the lifeline of cities. The reconstruction of secondary water supply systems is a key component of urban renewal reforms, and the collaborative governance of such projects has become a focal topic through academic research. In this article, we try to discover the path to successful “bottom-up” collaborative water governance with Collins’s theory of interaction ritual chains (IRC) through a case study of a secondary water supply reconstruction program in J Estate, Jinshan District, Shanghai. The case study involved a total of 104 households, and we employed convenience sampling for all households through door-to-door inquiries, which included semi-structured interviews and non-participant observations. A total of 15 households participated in our interview. This study demonstrates that repeated social interactive rituals, such as bodily co-presence, rhythmic synchronization, and shared signs, can stimulate the accumulation of residents’ emotional energy, which becomes the initial power to promote community water governance and, in return, becomes the driving force for sustained collective action and mutual trust. Drawing on Collins’s theory of IRC, this article fills a gap by explaining the symbolic mechanism driven by emotions and personal relationships that macro-level governance ignores. We also demonstrate the spillover effects of such social rituals and propose policy recommendations that governments should apply, using these rituals to mobilize and consolidate residents’ emotions to create a virtuous circle of collaborative governance. Full article

In the context of global climate change, achieving a green and low-carbon economic transition is essential for sustainable development. This study constructs a model using data from 30 provinces collected between 2006 and 2020 to investigate how green finance influences China’s carbon productivity and the transmission mechanism mediated by factor-biased technological progress. The findings reveal the following: (1) The Moran’s index test for carbon productivity across Chinese provinces demonstrates significant spatial clustering. (2) Green finance exhibits substantial spillover effects on carbon productivity in surrounding regions. (3) Capital-biased and energy-biased technological progress significantly mediate the relationship between green finance and carbon productivity, indicating that green finance enhances carbon productivity by optimizing the allocation of capital, labor, and energy factors. (4) Regional heterogeneity analysis indicates that capital-technology-biased and energy-factor-technology-biased approaches can significantly enhance carbon productivity in Central and Northeastern China. Notably, energy-factor innovation delivers far greater environmental efficiency gains in these regions than in Eastern and Western China. Full article

This study aims to explore whether and how data elements affect the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of China’s logistics industry, and conducts empirical tests using the super-efficiency SBM model, Malmquist exponential model, and spatial Dubin model. Based on the relevant data of 30 provinces in China from 2013 to 2021, we employ the Super-efficiency SBM model and the Malmquist dynamic index model to calculate the green total factor productivity of the logistics sector. We then establish a three-tier evaluation framework for data elements, employ the entropy method to determine the weighting of each indicator, and utilize linear weighting to calculate the comprehensive evaluation value of data elements. By incorporating appropriate control variables and employing the spatial Durbin model, this study examines the impact of data elements on the GTFP of the logistics industry. It is found that data elements have a contributing effect on improving GTFP of the logistics industry in the local region as well as a positive spillover effect on the neighboring regions, and this is achieved by improving the level of technical progress. In addition, the coefficients are decomposed into direct, indirect, and total effects by partial differentiation, again verifying the above conclusions. This study investigates the impact of data elements on GTFP in the logistics industry from theoretical mechanisms and empirical tests, and analyzes the dual impact of data elements and other factors on the local region and neighboring regions. The findings of this study can provide references for better empowering the development of the logistics industry with data elements. Full article

In the context of the digital economy reshaping the global competitive landscape, digital industry clusters have become the key driving force to overcome the diminishing returns of traditional inputs and realize sustainable economic development in the digital era. However, the internal mechanisms and spatial effects through which digital industrial clusters drive high-quality development and thereby foster sustainable regional economic growth remain unclear. Based on China’s provincial panel data from 2012 to 2023, this study constructs time-fixed spatial Durbin model and mediation effect model to systematically examine the impact mechanism of digital industry clusters on high-quality economic development, and to analyze their direct effects, spatial spillover effects and mediation transmission effects. The following effects have been found: (1) digital industry clusters can directly promote the high-quality development of the region’s economy (0.070), and can also significantly promote the high-quality development of the region’s economy through the mediating effect of innovative talent agglomeration (0.021); (2) the spatial spillover effect of digital industry clusters consists of the negative siphoning effect of innovative talent and positive technology diffusion and driving effect, which makes the total effect of digital industry clusters on neighboring regions uncertain; (3) Technology-intensive areas, as well as the eastern and northeastern regions, have effectively transformed the advantages of digital industry clusters into momentum for high-quality economic development, whereas central and western regions have not yet fully unleashed the driving effect of digital industry on the high-quality development of the economy, due to the constraints of the industrial structure, innovation factors and infrastructure. Based on the empirical results, the article suggests accelerating the construction of digital industry innovation hubs, establishing cross-regional technology sharing platforms, constructing a negative externality compensation mechanism for talent loss areas, and implementing differentiated regional development strategies. The study addresses a gap in existing research by analyzing the spatial mediation effects of digital industrial agglomeration on high-quality economic development. It extends theoretical insights into industrial clustering within the digital economy and offers actionable policy pathways for developing countries to promote sustainable economic growth through digital industrial clusters. Full article

China is vigorously promoting agricultural energy conservation and carbon reduction and accelerating the transformation of traditional agriculture towards green development, which is a key measure adopted by the Chinese government to advance agricultural modernization. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China spanning 2006–2023, this paper systematically studies the impact of agricultural cooperatives driving small-scale farmers on carbon emissions in the planting industry by comprehensively applying linear regression, mediating effect, threshold effect, and spatial econometric models. Studies show that cooperatives have significantly reduced carbon emissions for small-scale farmers, with a stable “carbon reduction effect”, and this effect is most obvious in the eastern region, presenting a regional gradient characteristic of “east > central > west”. The differences between major grain-producing areas and non-major grain-producing areas are relatively small, indicating that their emission reduction effect has wide applicability. Mechanism analysis indicates that improvements in agricultural technology and rural land transfers are key pathways to achieving emissions reductions. Further findings reveal that exemplary cooperatives have a dual threshold effect: they may initially experience a short-term “carbon increase effect”, but as the organization matures, it turns into a significant “emission reduction”. In addition, the development of cooperatives in this region has a positive spillover effect on the carbon emissions of the planting industry in the surrounding areas. This study makes up for the deficiency of the existing literature in the mechanism of “organization-driven individual” promoting agricultural green transformation; it reveals the path of cooperatives promoting low-carbon agriculture through technological promotion and land integration, enriches the theoretical system of agricultural green transformation, and provides replicable practical references for developing countries to promote energy conservation and carbon reduction in agriculture. Full article

Resource-based cities in China face severe challenges in reducing energy consumption due to their heavy industrial structures and strong dependence on fossil fuels. Using the “Broadband China” strategy as a quasi-natural experiment, this study applies a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model, together with mediation and spatial econometric approaches, to identify local, indirect, and spillover effects. The results show that the strategy significantly reduces energy consumption in resource-based cities. Mechanism analysis reveals that the “Broadband China” strategy reduces energy use in resource-based cities by promoting green technology innovation and financial development. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the energy-saving effect is more pronounced in mature and regenerating cities, non-old-industrial-based cities, and key environmental protection cities. Spatial evaluation further shows that the “Broadband China” strategy exerts a negative spatial spillover effect on energy consumption in neighboring resource-based cities. Our findings provide valuable insights for resource-based cities in China to control energy consumption and achieve sustainable development. Our findings provide practical policy implications for resource-based cities in China, supporting strategies to achieve energy conservation development and advance sustainable transformation. Full article

Improving urban energy efficiency is essential for addressing energy shortages and environmental pollution, thereby facilitating a win–win outcome for both the economy and the environment. As an emerging financial force, fintech is essential for facilitating energy saving, reducing emissions, and advancing modernization. Using panel data of 278 cities in China from 2011 to 2022 to construct a spatial Durbin model for investigating how fintech affects energy efficiency, the following results were found: (1) Energy efficiency shows positive spatial dependence features, and the enhancement of energy efficiency in this location positively influences the energy efficiency of spatially connected regions. (2) Fintech improves local energy efficiency and has notable positive geographical spillover effects on surrounding regions’ energy efficiency. (3) Three mediating pathways are identified: upgrading industrial structure, promoting green innovation, and driving green finance evolution. (4) The regulatory mechanism suggests that environmental regulations can help strengthen fintech’s geographical spillover benefits for the energy efficiency of neighboring areas. The impact of fintech on energy efficiency exhibits heterogeneity due to differences in urban resources and digital infrastructure. These insights offer important theoretical contributions and practical significance for policy-makers in advancing fintech development and urban energy efficiency. Full article

The digital economy plays an important role in promoting green economic growth. This study evaluates the degree of green economic development generated by green innovation and green sharing based on data from 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2022. An empirical analysis of the digital economy’s influence on the growth of the green economy and its transmission mechanisms is performed. The analysis results demonstrate that the digital economy can significantly promote green economic development, encompassing improvements in both green innovation and green sharing, and exhibits a nonlinear “increasing marginal effect”. The analysis of transmission channels reveals that, on one hand, the digital economy can promote green economic development by optimizing the allocation of data elements, while on the other, its impact is also influenced by the intensity of environmental regulations, exhibiting a threshold effect. Further heterogeneity analysis suggests that the promotional effect of the digital economy on green economic development is more pronounced in regions with high levels of economic development, a robust infrastructure, and strong policy support. Full article

The emergency industry refers to a comprehensive industrial system of products, technologies, and services aimed at preventing, responding to, and mitigating emergencies. The emergency industry is primarily oriented toward disaster prevention and mitigation, providing direct support to enhance societal resilience. Given the frequent occurrence of natural disasters and the strategic layout of global emergency technologies, it is of great practical significance to study how the science and technology systems of disaster-prone countries respond. Based on the theories of disaster economics and innovation geography, this paper constructs a mediation effect model to investigate how China improves the key technological capabilities of its emergency industry through three response pathways—demand stimulation, technological advancement, and educational enhancement—following natural disasters. The stepwise testing approach, which integrates the mediation effect model with the spatial Durbin model, consists of three stages. The first stage tests the total effect model to assess how disasters impact local key technologies and their spatial spillover on adjacent regions. The second stage examines the direct influence of disasters on the three pathways and their spatial spillover using the mediator equation. The third stage uses the outcome equation with the mediator to evaluate how the pathways affect local key technologies and neighboring regions after controlling for disaster impacts. We offer both theoretical insights and empirical evidence to support specialized research on technological diffusion induced by disasters. The result shows that although the direct negative impact of disasters is inevitable, the institutional advantages of China’s emergency rescue and innovative collaborative efforts have played a significant role in promoting key technologies. Under the new national system, China is progressively establishing a spatial framework wherein emergency products are allocated across regions, key technologies are synergistically integrated, and the development of emergency-related disciplines is promoted through regional collaboration in response to the frequent occurrence of natural disasters. This demonstrates that the advancement of key technologies in China’s emergency industry is significantly supported by inter-regional cooperation and linkage mechanisms. Full article

Modernization in developing countries such as China has long been unsustainable. As a result, China has set the goal of achieving sustainable modernization characterized by harmony between humanity and nature. Against this backdrop, in this study, we apply spatial difference-in-differences (SDID) and double machine learning (DML) models using panel data from 30 provincial-level regions in China from 2009 to 2021. We examine the impacts of the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zone policy and sci-technology financial ecology on the Chinese Path to Sustainable Modernization. The results show that big data pilot zones significantly enhance modernization and generate positive spatial spillover effects through demonstration and diffusion. Sci-technology financial ecology improves sustainable modernization and amplifies the role played by pilot zones. Heterogeneity tests reveal stronger effects in eastern provinces and in areas implementing urban–rural integration or green finance reforms. The results of the mechanism analysis show that big data innovation promotes modernization by strengthening sci-technology financial ecology, raising government attention, fostering inclusive intelligence development, enhancing green innovation efficiency, and upgrading industrial structures. Full article

Indium oxide-based gas sensors have been proven to be a promising material for detecting nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) gas because of its wide bandgap and stability. In this paper, the enhancement mechanism for the sensitivity of indium oxide NO₂ gas sensors was systematically investigated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations and experimental validation with noble metals like Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, and Cu. We have fabricated a GaN nanowire-based NO₂ gas sensor functionalized with In₂O₃ and decorated with noble metals using a standard fabrication technique. Experimental tests showed that Au/In₂O₃ sensors exhibited the highest response of 38.9% followed by bare In₂O₃ with 10% for 10 ppm NO₂ at room temperature. The sensing properties were mainly attributed to a spillover effect or catalytic performance of Au with In₂O₃. The adsorption energies, charge transfers, and band gap confirm the enhanced sensing capability of Au-decorated Indium oxide for a NO₂ gas sensor. Full article

Enhancing urban ecological resilience (UER) is essential for achieving sustainable urban development, as it fosters balanced urbanization while ensuring long-term ecosystem stability. New-type urbanization (NU) plays a pivotal role in sustaining urban sustainable development; however, the mechanisms through which NU affects UER remain insufficiently understood. This study seeks to bridge this knowledge gap by analyzing panel data from 281 prefecture-level cities in China spanning the period from 2000 to 2022. Composite indices for NU and UER are constructed using the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method. The relationship between NU and UER is empirically examined through fixed-effects models, mediation analysis, and a spatial Durbin model. The findings reveal a general upward trend in both NU and UER over time, albeit with some fluctuations. NU significantly enhances UER through direct effects, indirect pathways, and spatial spillovers. The magnitude and nature of this impact vary across geographic regions and resource endowments. Resource-based cities, in particular, demonstrate a stronger capacity to optimize land resource allocation, improve land use structures, and reduce environmental pollution—thus contributing more effectively to UER enhancement. Furthermore, while NU has a positive effect on UER across all regions, the impact is more pronounced in central and western cities, where major national development strategies—such as the Western Development Strategy and the Rise of Central China Plan—are actively implemented. Among them, cities in the central region with higher levels of urbanization experience more substantial benefits from NU compared to those in the western region, where urbanization is progressing more gradually. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the spatial effects of NU on UER and offers valuable policy implications for enhancing ecological resilience through sustainable urbanization pathways. Full article