Chinese Industrial Sectors Research Articles

A Novel Centralized Allocation Data Envelopment Analysis Model for Carbon Emission Allocation Under a Heterogeneous Abatement Cost: Application Within the Chinese Industrial Sector

This paper presents a mathematical approach to analyzing carbon abatement costs and the allocation of carbon emission allowances in China’s industrial sectors. We utilize input–output data from 30 Chinese provinces between 2009 and 2018 to estimate carbon abatement costs by applying the slack-based measure (SBM) efficiency model and its dual form. The SBM model captures inefficiencies and offers a rigorous framework for measuring abatement costs. Using these costs, we develop a centralized allocation data envelopment analysis (DEA) model, which maximizes sectoral benefits through optimal reallocation. This DEA model is formalized as a linear programming problem, with the aim of determining the efficient allocations of carbon allowances while maintaining the system’s economic productivity. Furthermore, we construct intertemporal, interregional, and spatiotemporal allocation DEA models to examine the dynamics of carbon emission allowance allocation over time, space, and combined spatiotemporal dimensions. These models offer insights into the efficiency of carbon markets under varying conditions. Our proposed new mathematical formulations reveal optimal allocation strategies that can balance emission reductions with industrial productivity. This study also provides novel mathematical frameworks for analyzing the carbon allowance distribution and contributions to both the theory and application of mathematical optimization in environmental policy design. Our findings reveal that China’s industrial carbon abatement costs exhibit significant interprovincial and regional differences. Developed provinces with higher levels of industrial development have higher carbon abatement costs, while provinces with less-developed industrial sectors have lower costs. Under the interregional allocation scenario of carbon emission allowances that consider abatement costs, developed provinces have smaller industrial carbon emission reductions, whereas less-developed provinces have larger reductions. In the intertemporal allocation scenario, provinces with larger industrial economies face greater emission reduction tasks. Under the combined interregional and intertemporal allocation scenario, industrial sectors in coastal developed provinces have lower carbon emission reductions, while those in inland less-developed provinces have higher reductions, mirroring the spatial allocation results of carbon emission allowances.

Navigating industrial performance: Impact of corporate social responsibility on sustainable development with moderation of reverse supply chain management

AbstractAlthough several studies ensured the essentiality of corporate social responsibility (CSR) with respect to sustainable development (SD) from various domains, worldwide. Nonetheless, this study explores the nexus among CSR practices (i.e., social responsibility, environmental responsibility, employee responsibility, customer responsibility, supplier responsibility, and govt. rules & regulation responsibility) on SD (i.e., social development, economic development, and environmental development) from the mainstream of Chinese industrial sector drawing on stakeholder theory. Second, this study investigates the moderating influence of reverse supply chain management (RSCM) to sense how these forces may impact the association between CSR and SD. After evaluation and by implementing a structural approach, the results affirmed the positive linkages between CSR and SD along with each CSR's dimension toward sustainable development. Finally, the study confirmed a positive connection of RSCM as a moderator between CSR and SD. Besides, certain implications are listed for the management along with shortcomings and future directions for academic scholars to extend studies for additional validation across the globe.

Heterogeneous strategy and performance decomposition of regional industries in China: From the perspective of resource misallocation

AbstractThe rapid expansion of China's industrial sector has been accompanied by energy consumption and environmental pollution. Accurately identifying the sources of inefficiency of industrial sector is crucial for achieving sustainable development. To address this issue, this study develops a novel decomposition approach that combines the concepts of natural and managerial disposability with an aggregate directional distance function approach to measure the performance of regional industries in China from 2006 to 2019. In the proposed approach, the overall inefficiency is decomposed into technical inefficiency and structural inefficiency. The latter component, which captures inefficiency associated with resource misallocation within a country, is further divided into mix and scale elements. The results show that there remains much room for potential improvement in both the operational and environmental performance of China's industrial system, particularly in the central area. Furthermore, structural inefficiency is the primary contributor to the overall inefficiency of Chinese industry under natural disposability, whereas technical inefficiency appears as the main source of the inefficiency under managerial disposability. The results also reveal great disparities in terms of the overall inefficiency and the sources of inefficiency of Chinese industrial sector among regions between different mitigation strategies. Given the substantial structural effect on the performance of Chinese industries across regions, it is necessary to accelerate the establishment of market mechanisms to promote efficient allocation of resources.

Diffusion of Irresponsible Workplace Practices in Supply Chains: The Chinese Industrial Sector Case

Diffusion of Irresponsible Workplace Practices in Supply Chains: The Chinese Industrial Sector Case

Impact of green financing on CSR and environmental policies and procedures

Despite increasing global attention towards sustainable development, the empirical linkage between green financing and the enhancement of environmental and social governance (ESG) practices within industries remains underexplored. This study investigates the influence of green financing on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and environmental policies and procedures in 40 Chinese industries from 2010 to 2020. By employing a baseline regression and a difference-in-differences methodology, this paper aims to quantify the extent to which green financing initiatives have impacted CSR activities and the adoption of rigorous environmental policies and procedures in the Chinese industrial sector. The results indicate that industries with access to green financing have shown significant improvements in their CSR engagements and the stringency of their environmental policies and procedures compared to those without such financial incentives. Specifically, the difference-in-differences analysis reveals a positive and statistically significant effect of green financing on the adoption of more stringent environmental policies and the enhancement of CSR practices. We identify the specific areas within CSR and environmental policies that are most influenced by green financing. We assess the effectiveness of green financing as a tool for promoting sustainable industrial practices. The analysis utilizes a comprehensive dataset, including industry-specific financing and ESG performance indicators, to conduct a longitudinal assessment over the decade in question. Based on these findings, the study concludes with a policy implication that emphasizes the critical role of green financing as a catalyst for improving CSR and environmental standards in industries. It suggests that policymakers and financial institutions should consider expanding green financing mechanisms to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable industrial practices.

THE TRANSLATION OF THE TERM “人才” INTO RUSSIAN BASED ON TRANSKNOWLEDGEOLOGY: XI JINPING’S PUBLICATION “THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA IV”

Translating the central literature of the CPC is an important way to showcase the image of the country and disseminate China’s voice. The aim of this article is, based on the aforementioned idea and guided by transknowledgeology, to analyze the methods of translating expressions related to “人才” (talent/professional) into Russian in various texts and contexts from Xi Jinping’s “The Governance of China IV” and to explore China’s personnel policy embedded in translation. Knowledge is conveyed through political discourse to demonstrate the discourse of power within knowledge. The research methods combine qualitative and quantitative approaches, using in-depth analysis to reveal the social nature of linguistic phenomena. The study shows that in the translation of this article, the word “кадры” (cadres) was most frequently used to convey the meaning of “人才,” followed by “специалист” (specialist), “профессионал” (professional), and “талант” (talent). Chinese industry and other sectors have a “cluster” structure, with each region having its own preferred sectors, and corresponding professional needs vary. Therefore, when translating, specific circumstances and the epochal situation should be taken into account. The choice of different words to express the term “人才” not only reflects an understanding of the situation in Chinese economic development but also China’s official stance on global human resources.

Can firms achieve the collaborative governance of airborne pollution and greenhouse gases? Evidence from the Chinese industrial sector

The rapid global industrialization and urbanization processes, especially in developing countries, have caused serious environmental pollution and climate warming. The industrial sector, in which high energy consumption is its main feature, is an important source of airborne pollution and greenhouse gases. The effective realization of collaborative emission reduction in the industrial sector has become an important path worldwide to reduce pollution and carbon in the future. Based on matched data on industrial firms, this study uses a fixed effects model, the two-stage least squares method, quantile regression and an interaction regression model to explore the co-benefits of airborne pollution and greenhouse gas emission reduction from a microscale perspective. Benchmark analysis demonstrates that for every 1% decrease in the airborne pollution emissions of firms, the greenhouse gas emissions of firms decrease by approximately 0.014%. According to heterogeneity analysis, the electric power, heat production and supply industry; the coal mining and washing industry; the leather, fur, feather and related products industry; the ferrous metal ore mining and dressing industry; and the petroleum, coal and other fuel processing industry are ripe for reduction at lower costs. Furthermore, feasibility analysis reveals that firms' sulfur reduction behavior and the government's sulfur reduction legislation may result in collaborative greenhouse gas emission reductions while regulating airborne pollution. This research can help countries meet multiple emission reduction goals by facilitating the optimization of joint emission reduction methods that target numerous pollutants.

Society 5.0 versus Industry 5.0: An examination of industrialization models in driving sustainable development from a normative stakeholder theory perspective

AbstractThe research on Society 5.0 (s5.0) and Industry 5.0 (i5.0) is a relatively new and emerging domain where researchers are still striving to explore the influence within distinct contexts, worldwide. The study investigates the impact of two major models of industrialization, that is, s5.0 and i5.0 to understand the insights into how it triggers the firms' sustainable development by showing empirical examinations from the Chinese industrial sector drawing on normative stakeholder theory perspective. The results asserted that the i5.0 model positively affects sustainable performance (SSP). The empirical analysis confirmed a positive association of s5.0 model toward SSP. In addition, it found that s5.0 and i5.0 models have a positive correlation with the economic perspective of SSP. Second, the findings asserted the positive linkage between i5.0 and s5.0 from a social perspective. Finally, the study found a significant correlation between i5.0 and s5.0 on the environmental factors, respectively. This study equipped both frameworks to empirically conduct the contextual examination showing insights into the embodiment of such capabilities that may support achieving SSP. This study shows insights into certain policy implications. For instance, i5.0 and s5.0 both models support shaping innovative ecosystems, encouraging ethical and sustainable practices, encouraging effective infrastructure, empowering citizen participation, and supporting work for the betterment of society. Finally, the study enlists certain managerial and theoretical recommendations for the industries together with possibilities of future research for scholars of the world.

Green Investment, Technological Progress, and Green Industrial Development: Implications for Sustainable Development

Environmental reformation of old-fashioned sectors and the establishment of new pro-ecological businesses via green investment are the main driving forces behind the revolution in the Chinese industrial sector. Green investment aids in the growth of environmentally friendly industries. Hence, the primary objective of the analysis is to investigate the impact of green investment and technological progress on green industrial development. The results of the unit root tests encourage us to apply the ARDL model. The short and long-run estimates attached to R&D expenditures are positively significant, confirming that increasing R&D expenditures help improve the industrial structure. Similarly, the short and long-run estimates attached to green finance investment are positively significant, signifying that green investment benefits the industrial structure. Empirical findings show that technology significantly aggravates industrial structure development in only the long run. Thus, for green industrial development in China, there is a need to increase green investment and technological development up to top-level design.

Understanding the Impact of Environmentally Specific Servant Leadership on Employees' Pro-Environmental Behaviors in the Workplace: Based on the Proactive Motivation Model.

The increasingly severe environmental situation has brought challenges to the world, and organizations are aware of the importance of environmental management and are committed to changing individuals' environmental behavior patterns. Based on the proactive motivation model, this study constructs a moderated multiple mediation model to explore the impact mechanism and boundary conditions between environmentally specific servant leadership (ESSL) and employees' workplace pro-environmental behaviors (WPB). This study examines 440 Chinese industrial sector employees, and the linear regression method test results show that: (1) ESSL significantly promotes employees' WPB. (2) Green self-efficacy (GSE), green organizational identity (GOI), and environmental passion (EP) act as multiple mediators between ESSL and employees' WPB. (3) Green shared vision (GSV) positively moderates the relationship between ESSL and employees' WPB. This study provides a new theoretical perspective on how ESSL affects employees' WPB, which is analyzed from three aspects: "can do", "reason to", and "energized to". This new mechanism reveals that leaders should transform their leadership style to that of environmental service, and focus on enhancing the employees' GSE, GOI, and EP. Moreover, ESSL should make copious use of green strategy tools, such as GSV, to realize the above mechanism.

Industrial investments and housing prices in China

Explosive housing prices in major cities have created a great deal of new houses that are vacant, which is defined as oversupply. We use the matrix of the direct input coefficients of an input–output table to identify 13 of 36 Chinese industrial sectors as housing-related. We estimate Marginal q values by sector for 2001–2016; sectoral investment is explained by panel estimations based on Marginal q theory. The Marginal q investment elasticities of 13 housing-related industries, the remaining 23 industries, and all industries were 0.2412, 0.8539, and 0.6956 respectively. The housing price Granger explains the producer price index (PPI), and the PPI Granger explains the Marginal q values of the 36 industrial sectors. Overcapacity via overinvestment was evident in all 13 housing-related industrial sectors, including metal and cement, during the period of explosive housing prices.

Green effects of research and development on industrial waste reduction during the production phase: Evidence from China and policy implications.

Maintaining public health requires a clean environment; however, some industrial wastes can damage the water, atmosphere, and living environment seriously. To promote green development, policy makers in China have developed and implemented strict environmental regulations to limit the pollutant emissions and improve the environmental quality. Industrial producers implement research and development (R&D) activities to gain more profits in competitive markets. A comprehensive understanding of the green effects of R&D on different industrial wastes could provide important policy recommendations, especially regarding the coordination of innovative and green developments. In this study, the author empirically analyzed the influence of R&D input, including the intramural expenditure on R&D and full-time equivalent of R&D personnel, on industrial wastes, including the discharge of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen, emission of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter, and generation of common industrial solid and hazardous wastes, based on the data from Chinese industrial sectors for 2016-2020. The main findings of empirical analyses were robust and indicated that R&D activities significantly reduced the emissions of all three industrial waste gases and decreased the discharge of COD; however, in the case of China, the partial effects on the discharge of ammonia nitrogen and the industrial solid wastes were not statistically significant. The green effects of R&D on different industrial wastes may vary and generally depend on environmental regulations, with various limitations. The most viable policy recommendations indicate that by expanding and initiating the green effect of R&D on different industrial wastes, innovative and green developments are more likely to be achieved in a coordinated manner. Additionally, this can also support special R&D activities, with the added benefit of actively developing cleaner technology to treat pollutant emissions. Development, while maintaining a clean environment to ensure public health, could be more sustainable if innovative activities reduce the production of industrial wastes. This study analyzes the green effects of R&D on industrial waste and can serve as a viable framework for future studies on sustainable development.

Energy efficiency and congestion effects analysis for the production system with comprehensive input–output indicators

Many studies have conducted the energy efficiency measurement through data envelopment analysis (DEA) for energy conservation and emission reduction. However, for the production system with undesirable inputs and outputs, little literature considers the congestion effect, which will lead to the waste of resources and the aggravation of pollutants emission. To fill in the literature gap, this paper proposes an environmental DEA model with undesirable inputs to measure energy efficiency considering the congestion effects. Furthermore, for the improvement of energy efficiency, we measure the congestion effects, which are divided into the desirable congestion and undesirable congestion according to the undesirable inputs and desirable inputs, respectively. Based on the DEA model proposed, we can not only identify the type of congestion effects but also calculate the specific congested amount. Moreover, we decompose the improvement spaces of inputs and undesirable outputs into technically inefficient components and congested components. Finally, we apply the methods proposed in this paper to the Chinese industrial sector. Interestingly, the empirical results show that congestion effects are serious and obvious. The congestion effects bring huge potential in energy conservation and emission reduction. For energy conservation, energy congestion accounts for 86.93% of the saving potential. For emission reduction, the congested components account for more than 79% of the reduction potential of each pollutant.

Waste gas emissions, air pollution treatment, and industrial profit: evidence from China and global implications of green development.

This paper proposes a simple model to theoretically analyze the impacts of emissions of waste gases on industrial profit and mainly finds that industrial producers yield products to pursue profit but emit waste gases, protecting atmospheric environment demands for decline in waste gases, emissions impact profit when the process of production is altered as result of public regulations, and actively treating emissions ease the distortions of production and maintain profit. As a comparison, industrial profit is not impacted by emissions when producers are allowed to emit freely. After theoretical analysis, this study also empirically tests the relationship between the emissions of waste gases and profit as evidenced in China and finds that emissions do not significantly impact profit, except for sulfur dioxide with significantly negative impact; industrial producers with increased capacity for treating waste gases obtained more profits. As a result, the cost expended on treating pollution was compensated in the Chinese industrial sector. Successfully declining waste gases for atmospheric environmental protection and maintaining industrial profit for economic output and social development in the Chinese local economy has global implications because many other countries and regions primarily pursue green and sustainable development.

Why do zombie firms seldom die or resurrect? The effect of government subsidies on the survival duration of China’s zombie firms

Abstract One of the most important tasks in China’s supply-side structural reform is to effectively clean up zombie firms. Using industrial firm-level data in China from 1998 to 2007, we identified zombie firms in Chinese industrial sectors. Based on the identified zombie firms, we measured the survival duration of zombie firms and empirically studied the effect of fiscal subsidies on the survival duration of zombie firms by using survival analysis. Results revealed that fiscal subsidies significantly lengthened the survival duration of zombie firms. Specifically, fiscal subsidies not only reduced the possibility of zombie firms exiting the market, but more importantly, they reduced the possibility of zombie firms’ resurrection. Thus, fiscal subsidies do not contribute to the “death” or “resurrection” of zombie firms. These results are robust despite changing the identification method and the survival analysis method, and considering the endogeneity of fiscal subsidies. Our findings show that we should adhere to market-oriented mechanism in disposing zombie firms and cut off the channels that government transfuses to zombie firms by fiscal subsidies.

Evaluating Green Productivity Gains with the Exponential By-Production Technology: an Analysis of the Chinese Industrial Sector.

The conventional convexity assumptions frequently placed on piecewise linear frontiers of production technologies modeled using data envelopment analysis imply non-increasing marginal products. Assuming geometric convexity in the context of the exponential technology represents a more general alternative that imposes no underlying restrictions on the marginal products, while simultaneously reducing the impact of the outlying observations. In this paper, we propose an exponential by-production technology capable of generating the outputs deemed undesirable from the society’s point of view. We subsequently rely on this technology to measure environmental productivity. Our empirical illustration uses data from the Chinese industrial sector, which is both a major energy consumer and polluter. By comparing our findings with the results from a conventional production model we demonstrate that our proposed indicator mitigates the impact of outlying observations when gauging the contributions of inputs and outputs to green growth. Our results suggest that the Chinese industrial sector experienced the annual productivity growth rate of around 0.40% during 1999–2016 and that the green productivity was mostly driven by technological progress. We also demonstrate that technological progress has been a bigger contributor to the growth in industrial output in China’s east than its inland or western regions.

The effect of environmental regulation and skill premium on the inflow of FDI:Evidence from Chinese industrial sectors

Whether environmental regulation helps to promote the inflow of FDI in China's industry and whether the effect of environmental regulation on FDI through the skill premium varies across industrial sectors remains unclear. Therefore, this article develops the mediating effect model and the threshold effect model to estimate the impact mechanism of environmental regulation on FDI in Chinese industrial sectors. The results indicate that: First, within the sample period, environmental regulation has significantly hindered the increase in the skill premium in Chinese industrial sectors. Second, the enhancement of environmental regulation has significantly boosted the inflow of FDI in industrial sectors, especially in the strategic emerging industries. Finally, skill premium has a single threshold effect, and when it is less than or equal to the threshold, its increase helps environmental regulation promote the inflow of FDI, but when it exceeds the threshold, environmental regulation will not significantly affect the inflow of FDI.

Development of New Products and Energy Consumption in Industrial Production: Relationship and Evidence From China

Will energy consumption decrease when producers implement some innovative activities in industrial production? As a special but important innovation, how development of new products impacts energy consumption is a valuable issue. This study proposes a model to analyze the relationship of energy consumption and development of new products and finds that development of new products and production probably increases total energy consumption and energy intensity by output simultaneously since the productivity of producing new products may be lower than those existing goods with mature processes in industrial production. Producers develop new products with cleaner technology by saving energy or/and with higher initial productivity is possible to decrease energy consumption. After theoretical analysis, this study empirically tests the correlation between development of new products and energy consumption by using 2016–2019 data of Chinese industry and reveals that development of new products and production increased total energy consumption and energy intensity by output in industrial production, but decreased the usage and intensity of a special final energy product as gasoline. These findings indicate that the Chinese industrial sector developed new products with cleaner technology by only saving gasoline. The effect of total energy saving by implementing innovative activities with new product development in industrial production was very limited in China. Chinese industry consumes huge amounts of energy and spends a lot of money on development of new products; policy makers with the vision of innovative and green development need to balance development of new products and energy consumption.

The impact of technological innovation on air pollution: Firm-level evidence from China

Technological innovation and environmental pollution are two contemporary issues in China. This paper analyses firm innovation's impact on air pollution using large, firm-level data sets from the Chinese industrial sector during the 1998–2012 period. The empirical results indicate that innovation significantly reduces firms’ pollution discharges, and that the causal relationship still exists when propensity score matching, instrumental variables, and other approaches are used to address endogeneity. Further analysis indicates that innovation effects on firms’ air pollution are heterogeneous across different industrial sectors, locations, and ownership types. The mechanism test reveals that decreasing energy consumption and misallocation of resources accounted for the observed pattern. This study's results hold important implications for reducing air pollution to improve environmental quality in China.

Greening of Chinese industrial sector: Stakeholders' responsiveness to non-governmental environmental monitoring

By merging all the industrial enterprises above designated size (over 300 thousand in 2013) at both the city level and the industry level, we examine the green transformation process of China's industrial sector for nearly 300 prefecture-level cities between 2004 and 2013. Since about 40% of these cities are under non-governmental environmental monitoring by means of releasing the pollution information transparency index (PITI) annually, we then empirically evaluate the green responses of Chinese industrial sector to the non-governmental environmental monitoring from a randomized natural field experiment by employing a difference-in-differences (DID) approach. The results indicate that the PITI release by a third party could significantly contribute to the green transformation of local industrial sector, and the effects are stronger in cities with more stringent environmental regulation and higher levels of economic development and marketization. Moreover, production factors appear to be reallocated from the polluting sectors to the non-polluting sectors to green the industrial sector. Specifically, more and more capitals and labors are invested in the non-polluting sectors in the cities with the PITI disclosure. Existing firms may exit the market, and forthcoming polluting firms are nipped in the bud.