Search Results (4)

The 2015 reform of state-owned forest regions (SOFRs) in Northeast China required state-owned forest enterprises (SOFEs) to transfer their governmental and social roles to local authorities. This transition, however, created fragmented governance within forestry communities due to the absence of cooperative mechanisms between SOFEs and local governments. This study examines the economic effects of this governance fragmentation on SOFEs and explores the underlying mechanisms. The research combines new institutional economics and transaction cost theory to develop hypotheses and employs empirical analysis using fixed-effects models on data from 39 SOFEs, belonging to two forest industry groups from 2015 to 2022, collected through surveys and field investigations. The findings indicate that governance fragmentation has a significant negative impact on the economic performance of SOFEs. The high transaction costs incurred by SOFEs in achieving community co-governance with local governments are identified as a key mediating mechanism. These costs lead to resource dispersion and diminished trust between SOFEs and local governments. The economic impact of this governance fragmentation varies based on the economic conditions of the SOFEs, their operational scales, and the clarity of geographical management boundaries with local governments. To mitigate the adverse effects of governance fragmentation, the study suggests proactive institutional designs to reduce transaction costs. These findings offer new insights into the corporate social responsibilities of Chinese SOFEs and suggest improvements in the governance structures of forestry communities in SOFRs in Northeast China. Additionally, the study expands the application of transaction cost theory in public affairs governance and enhances quantitative research on the economic impact on enterprises. Full article

Improving the technical efficiency of forest vegetation carbon sequestration is an effective way to accelerate the pace and reduce the cost of carbon neutrality in China. Therefore, it is particularly important to explore the technical efficiency, influencing factors, and optimization paths of forest vegetation carbon sequestration. This work uses a 21-year panel data set (2000–2020) of 87 state-owned forestry enterprises (SOFEs) in Northeast China and combines geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) technology. First, stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) was used to quantitatively analyze the technical efficiency of forest vegetation carbon sequestration in different SOFEs during different periods. Then, the individual fixed-effects model was used to examine the factors influencing technical efficiency under the control of climate factors. Finally, the panel threshold model was used to determine the impact of different management scales on the technical efficiency of forest vegetation carbon sequestration. The main results were as follows: technological progress can effectively reduce forestry investment and improve the technical efficiency of forest vegetation carbon sequestration production. There was technological progress in forest vegetation carbon sequestration production during the study period, but the rate of technological progress showed a decreasing trend. Forest management scale, total output value, employee wages, precipitation, and sun duration had a significant positive impact, whereas wood production had a significant negative impact on the technical efficiency of carbon sequestration. The impact of different management scales on the technical efficiency of carbon sequestration is highly heterogeneous. The study established an analytical framework for researching the technical efficiency and optimization of forest vegetation carbon sequestration, providing a theoretical and practical basis for forest management. Full article

The harmonious coexistence of man and nature is the primary goal of the establishment of national parks. Creating an ecological service supply model that takes into account the efficiency of ecological services, the fairness of residents’ livelihoods, and the reasonable distribution of rights and responsibilities is an important way of achieving that goal. China’s Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park (NTLNP) is a typical national park with state-owned forest land as the main body. Before the establishment of the national park, state-owned forest enterprises (SOFEs) and local government forest departments (LGFDs) were always the undertakers of ecological services. Issues such as the distribution of rights and responsibilities between the NTLNP Administration, SOFEs, and LGFDs and the livelihood of forest workers need to be resolved urgently. This study takes the NTLNP as the study area and constructs a model of government purchasing of ecological services. The main results show the following: (1) The driving factors of the government purchasing of ecological services are increasing the workload of ecological services, the need for workforce transfer, and the optimization of subsidy standards. (2) In the construction of the responsibility system, the NTLNP Administration is the purchaser, SOFEs and Protection Stations are the undertakers, and groups such as third-party institutions and the public are the Supervisors and Evaluators. (3) Setting the purchase price in 2022 at CNY 47,654.44 per person while maintaining an average annual growth rate of 6.10% will match the per capita wage income level of urban workers nationwide in 2035. Based on the research results, it is proposed that payment for ecosystem services (PES) and ecological compensation (EC) have mature research paradigms in solving the problems of efficiency and fairness, but government purchasing of ecological services is a more appropriate policy tool in terms of arranging rights and responsibilities. This study attempts to construct a model of government purchasing of ecological services in order to provide a useful reference for national parks with state-owned land as the main body. Full article

State-owned forestry enterprises (SOFEs) play an important role in the forestry economy in China. Understanding the eco-efficiency of their production is beneficial for the development of sustainable forestry and for achieving Goal 8 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Decent Work and Economic Growth. This paper assesses SOFEs’ overall eco-efficiency by analyzing various undesirable outputs using the Slacks-Based Measure of efficiency in Data Envelopment Analysis (SBM-DEA) model. Using basic data from 87 SOFEs in Northeast China from 2003 to 2016, this paper evaluated the eco-efficiency development level and spatial patterns of that region. The results show that SOFEs’ low eco-efficiency was caused by low pure-technical efficiency. Regional differences in eco-efficiency were very significant and became larger, but a market-oriented reform might help to improve such efficiency. The eco-efficiency of SOFEs was in decline from 2003 to 2016 due to the implementation of the Natural Forest Protection Project (NFPP). However, due to a relative lack of production factor inputs, most SOFEs’ scale returns are now increasing. In the future, efforts should be made to promote market-oriented reforms and take the path of large-scale development. Full article