Comprehensive Evaluation Index System Research Articles

From pixels to production: the impact of digital finance on the industrial fabric of rural China

PurposeThe aim of this study is to discern the role of digital finance in driving rural industrial integration and revitalization. Specifically, it intends to shed light on how the deep development of digital finance can contribute to the optimization and transformation of the rural industrial structure. The research further explores the particular effects of this financial transformation in the central and western regions of China.Design/methodology/approachThis research studies the influence of digital finance on rural industrial integration across 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2020. Utilizing the entropy weight method, a comprehensive evaluation index system is established to gauge the level of rural industrial integration. A two-way fixed effects model, intermediary effect model, and threshold effect model are employed to decipher the relationship between digital finance and rural industrial integration.FindingsFindings reveal a positive relationship between digital finance and rural industrial integration. A single threshold feature was identified: beyond a traditional finance development level, the marginal effect of digital finance on rural industrial integration increases. These effects are more noticeable in central and western regions.Originality/valueEmpirical outcomes contribute to policy discourse on rural digital finance, assisting policymakers in crafting effective strategies. Understanding the threshold of traditional finance development provides a new perspective on the potential of digital finance to drive rural industrial integration.

Study on the Coordinated Development Model of Ecological Economy and Environmental Protection

This paper establishes a comprehensive evaluation index system of the ecological environment and the economy, and the coupling degrees and coordination degrees from 2015 to 2019 are calculated. The results show that (1) There is a relationship between economic growth and environmental pollution. Discharging industrial pollutants is an important factor affecting the coordinated development of the ecological environment and economic coupling. (2) The comprehensive evaluation index of the ecological environment and economic development systems is increasing yearly, and the quality of the ecological environment and the level of economic development are constantly improving. (3) The value of the coupling degree and coupling coordination degree between ecological environment and economic development is increasing yearly, and the development trend is good. The coupling degree gradually shifts from low-level coupling to high-level coupling stage.

Integrating Spatial and Non-Spatial Dimensions to Evaluate Access to Rural Primary Healthcare Service: A Case Study of Songzi, China

Access to rural primary healthcare services has been broadly studied in the past few decades. However, most earlier studies that focused on examining access to rural healthcare services have conventionally treated spatial and non-spatial access as separate factors. This research aims to measure access to primary healthcare services in rural areas with the consideration of both spatial and non-spatial dimensions. The methodology of study is threefold. First, the Gaussian two-step floating catchment area (G-2SFCA) method was adopted to measure spatial access to primary healthcare services. Then, a questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate non-spatial access factors, including demographic condition, patient’s household income, healthcare insurance, education level, and patient satisfaction level with the services. After that, a comprehensive evaluation index system was employed to integrate both spatial and non-spatial access. The empirical study showed a remarkable disparity in spatial access to primary healthcare services. In total, 78 villages with 185,137 local people had a “low” or “very low” level of spatial access to both clinics and hospitals. For the non-spatial dimension, the results depicted that Songzi had significant inequalities in socioeconomic status (e.g., income, education) and patient satisfaction level for medical service. When integrating both spatial and non-spatial factors, the disadvantaged areas were mainly located in the eastern and middle parts. In addition, this study found that comprehensively considering the spatial and non-spatial access had a significant impact on results in healthcare access. In conclusion, this study calls for policymakers to pay more attention to primary healthcare inequalities within rural areas. The spatial and non-spatial access should be considered comprehensively when the long-term rural medical support policy is designated.

Analysis of the Coupling and Coordinated Development of Green Investment and Low Carbon Economy

Firstly, based on the review of domestic and foreign scholars' research on green investment and low-carbon economy, this article explores the coupling mechanism between green investment and low-carbon economy. Secondly, based on panel data from 16 cities in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone from 2015 to 2021, a comprehensive evaluation index system for green investment and low-carbon economy is constructed using five indicators: "low-carbon output indicator, low-carbon consumption indicator, low-carbon resource indicator, low-carbon environment indicator, and development capacity indicator." Furthermore, the entropy method is used to determine the weights of various indicators for green investment and low-carbon economy, calculate the comprehensive evaluation index for green investment and low-carbon economy in 16 cities in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone, and make a theoretical analysis of the development level of green investment and low-carbon economy in each region. At the same time, a coupling coordination model is used to explore the coupling degree and coupling between green investment and low-carbon economy index in 16 cities in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone from 2015 to 2021. Co scheduling. Finally, from the perspectives of time and space, in order to promote the coordinated development of green investment and low-carbon economy in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone, targeted policy recommendations are proposed for the government, enterprises, and the general public, with the aim of making theoretical contributions to the coordinated development of green investment and low-carbon economy, as well as the construction of ecological civilization in China.

Coordinated development of island ecotourism: A comprehensive evaluation of Amami-Oshima Island

Island tourism has garnered growing attention especially with the rapid expansion of ecotourism in island destinations. While past research has explored the integrated development of island tourism, environment, and economy, there exists a demand for a more comprehensive exploration that incorporates social aspects. This study aimed to establish a comprehensive evaluation index system for island ecotourism using Amami-Oshima Island as an example. It uses four tourism subtypes, including environment, economic, social, and other-sector tourism, within the framework for island ecotourism. We employed a Coupling Coordination Degree Model and a Grey Verhulst model, utilizing data from Amami-Oshima Island from 2010 to 2021 as a basis for quantitative analysis of the current status of island ecotourism coupling coordination development and for making predictions. The research outcomes reveal the following: (1) Between 2010 and 2021, Amami-Oshima Island exhibited an overall upward trajectory in the comprehensive development of ecotourism. The environment-tourism subsystem demonstrated robust performance, the social-tourism subsystem displayed fluctuating growth, and the economic and the other-sector tourism dimensions generally progressed in tandem. (2) The coupling degree and coordination level of Amami-Oshima Island ecotourism showed an overall upward trend, with coordination evolving from a state of minimal coordination to an intermediate level. However, opportunities remain to enhance high-quality coordination through mutual influences and interdependencies. (3) Predictions indicate a slight increase in ecotourism coupling coordination on Amami-Oshima Island over the next nine years (2022–2030). Based on these findings, this paper presents several policy recommendations, serving as a guideline for ecotourism development on Amami-Oshima Island. The research results carry significant implications for understanding the present status and future trends of ecotourism on Amami-Oshima Island and offer valuable policy suggestions for the development of ecotourism on other islands.

Internet Development, Population Aging and Urban-rural Income Gap: An Empirical Analysis Based on Provinces in China

Abstract This study utilizes panel data from Chinese provinces spanning 2013 to 2021 to establish a comprehensive evaluation index system for the level of Internet development. It investigates the impact of Internet development and its sub-dimensions on the urban-rural income gap and further examines the moderating effect of population aging. The findings suggest that Internet development can significantly improve the urban-rural income gap by increasing the farm and non-farm incomes of rural residents. Specifically, from a sub-dimension perspective, Internet infrastructure, commercial scale, and development potential play significant roles in narrowing the income gap, with substantial effects observed. Moreover, considering regional heterogeneity, the narrowing effect of the Internet on the urban-rural income gap in the Northeast, Central, and Western regions is significant and roughly equivalent, surpassing that of the Eastern region. Population aging leads to synchronous changes in the age structure of Internet users; the "silver-haired digital divide" impedes the elderly population's access to and use of the Internet, thereby inhibiting the shrinking effect of Internet development on the urban-rural income gap. Further investigation reveals that the imbalance in the urban-rural population aging process, with the degree of rural aging outpacing urban areas, is a significant factor contributing to this inhibitory effect. Keywords: Urban-rural Income Gap, Internet development, Population Aging, Moderating effect.

Dynamic Comprehensive Evaluation of a 660 MW Ultra-Supercritical Coal-Fired Unit Based on Improved Criteria Importance through Inter-Criteria Correlation and Entropy Weight Method

To address the issue of traditional static evaluation models being unable to comprehensively analyze the performance of ultra-supercritical coal-fired units under varying loads, we propose a dynamic comprehensive evaluation model based on the improved Criteria Importance Through Inter-criteria Correlation (CRITIC) method and entropy weight method (EWM). The comprehensive performance evaluation index system of ultra-supercritical coal fired units is constructed by examining the boiler performance, turbine performance, plant power performance, environmental performance, and flexible performance of coal-powered units. The CRITIC and EWM methods are used to calculate the weights of the indicators, which are then combined with the static evaluation results. Using a dynamic comprehensive evaluation model, we analyze ultra-supercritical coal-fired units, taking into account time weight. This allows us to obtain the comprehensive dynamic real-time evaluation value of the units under different loads. The research indicates that the weight of the evaluation index is changed when using the dynamic comprehensive evaluation model of the improved CRITIC and EWM. The index with lower weight is increased by 6.2%, while the index with higher weight is decreased by 0.22%. This alteration in weight range can provide a more objective reflection of the relationship between evaluation indicators. This model offers significant advantages in improving evaluation accuracy, weight balance distribution, and generality.

Spatio-temporal evolution and scenario analysis of end-recycling governance in China: based on GM-SVR-BP combined forecasting model

ABSTRACT End-recycling governance is the core link for achieving high-quality development of circular economy. This study uses data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2021 as research samples, constructs a comprehensive evaluation index system, and analyzes the achievements and progress of end-recycling governance in China over the years. Based on scenario analysis, a GM-SVR-BP combined model is further used to explore the development trends of end-recycling governance performance in 30 provinces in China from 2022 to 2030. Research finding: (1) The end-recycling governance performance of Chinese provinces presents a dynamic upward trend, but overall, it is low. (2) The barycenter of end-recycling governance in China migrated to the southeast, and the transfer speed was stable, showing a northeast-southwest pattern. There are pronounced differences among different regions. (3) There are apparent spatial autocorrelation characteristics in China’s end-recycling governance. The overall spatial agglomeration degree showed a weakening trend during the observation period. (4) The development trend of end-recycling governance performance in various regions in China during 2022–2030 follows the differentiation characteristics of the observation period in this study. Among them, technological breakthrough is one of the effective ways to improve the performance of end-recycling governance. The effect of the improvement of emotional level on the performance of end-recycling governance showed apparent regional heterogeneity. This study provides a clear and reliable decision-making basis for promoting the improvement of regional end-recycling governance performance and system construction, and has certain reference value for promoting national and regional resource conservation and environmental protection.

Adaptive virtual leader–leader–follower based formation switching for multiple autonomous tracked mobile robots in unknown obstacle environments

This article investigates the formation switching problem of a group of autonomous tracked mobile robots (ATMRs) traveling in unknown obstacle environments. Firstly, a novel formation structure model of virtual leader–leader–follower is designed, where the leader tracks the virtual leader determined by a reference trajectory, while the followers track their desired positions dictated by the virtual leader. Subsequently, a dynamic optimization formation switching strategy is developed, in which the leader calculates a formation adjustment factor in real-time to dynamically adjust the formation parameters according to the environmental constraints. Furthermore, a comprehensive performance evaluation index system is presented to assess formation switching efficiency, leveraging the inherent simplicity of the ATMR’s kinematics. Finally, extensive numerical simulations and physical experiments are carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed strategies.

Research on Digital Economy and High Quality Development of Regional Economy

<p>The experience of developed countries shows that digital economy can promote high -quality economic development. By constructing a comprehensive evaluation index system, this paper measures the digital economy and high quality economic development level of Zhejiang province from 2013 to 2019. First, the coupling model is used to measure the dynamic evolution process of digital economy and high-quality economic development, then the general linear linear regression model is fitted to explore the promotion degree of digital economy to high-quality economic development, and finally, the mediationeffect model is used to analyze the mechanism of digital economy to promote high -quality economic development. The following conclusionsare drawn: In recent years, the development level of digital economy in Zhejiang province continues to improve, and the coupling coordination degree of digital economy and high-quality economic development gradually reaches a good level. Digital economy can promote high-quality economic development. Every 1% increase in the level of digital economy will increase the level of high-quality economic development by 0.4694%. The index of scientific and technological innovation is taken as a mediating variable, and the test model is constructed. The mediating effect is found to be significant, which indicates that digital economy empowers scientific and technological innovation to promote high-quality economic development. Based on this, this paper puts forward some suggestions to provide reference for thehigh quality economic development of Zhejiang Province.</p>

Supplier Evaluation in Supply Chain Environment Based on Radial Basis Function Neural Network

The comprehensive evaluation and selection of suppliers under the environment of supply chain management has become a key factor affecting the success of supply chain. How to select suppliers and the strategic partnership between suppliers under the environment of supply chain management has become an important challenge. To solve this problem, this paper takes the supplier evaluation and selection of Guangzhou Automobile Toyota Company as the research object, constructs the index system of supplier comprehensive evaluation and selection, uses the RBF neural network algorithm to establish the supplier evaluation and selection model, and makes an experimental study. The results show that radial basis function neural network is a local approximation network, which has a unique and definite solution to the problem, and there is no local minimum problem in BP network. It is a method that enables enterprises and suppliers to have a clear understanding and seek further promotion together. The research provides theoretical data support for enterprise managers to make decisions.

Research on Performance Evaluation Index System of Rural Highway PPP Project

In recent years, China has actively and steadily expanded the effective investment in rural transportation infrastructure, actively guided social capital to participate in rural development, promoted the combination of PPP model and all aspects of rural areas, and implemented a new round of rural road construction and transformation. Rural highway construction is an important measure to promote rural economic development. Because of the wide range of rural construction in China and the huge capital investment and demand, it is necessary to build a scientific and comprehensive evaluation index system to evaluate the performance of rural highway construction projects, analyze the evaluation results, and put forward feasible suggestions to help decision makers grasp the benefits and effects of construction, and take targeted measures to guide and promote the positive development of rural highways. Taking the northern extension project of XL highway as an example, this paper constructs a performance evaluation index system, which can provide reference for the project management of XL highway and other highway projects.

Evaluation method for the impact of digital finance on the environmental performance of manufacturing industry

ABSTRACT A new evaluation method for the impact of digital finance on the environmental performance of the manufacturing industry is proposed to improve the accuracy of evaluation results and provide reliable data for enterprise development. Establish a scientific and comprehensive evaluation index system that includes environment, cost-effectiveness, life cycle, and sustainable development. Collect sample data through indirect measurement and direct measurement methods through questionnaire surveys and standardize each data through the measurement of digital economy development level to eliminate differences between different indicators. Based on the constructed evaluation indicator system and sample data collection results, the weights of each evaluation indicator are determined by establishing a projection pursuit model. The fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method and the analytic hierarchy process are used to obtain the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation results of environmental performance based on the projection pursuit model to evaluate the impact of digital finance on the environmental performance of the manufacturing industry. The experimental results show that compared with traditional business models, digital business models can effectively reduce energy consumption, operating costs, and logistics transportation costs of enterprises, improve resource utilization efficiency, and outperform traditional methods in evaluation accuracy, recall rate, and efficiency, verifying the effectiveness of this method.

Comprehensive evaluation and spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of urban resilience in Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle

To clarify the connotations and extensions of urban resilience, this study focuses on the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle with 16 cities as research subjects. A comprehensive evaluation index system was constructed to measure the resilience of each city from 2003 to 2020. The spatial-temporal evolution characteristics were analyzed using Kernel density estimation, standard deviation ellipse, and spatial Markov chain analysis, and the spatial Tobit model was introduced to discover the influencing factors. The results indicate the following: ① Urban resilience in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle displays an upward trend, with the center of gravity moving to the southwest, and the polarization phenomenon intensifying. ② The urban resilience level in a region has certain spatial and geographical dependence, while the probability of urban resilience transfer differs in adjacent cities with different resilience levels. ③ Urban centrality, economic scale, openness level, and financial development promote urban resilience, whereas government scale significantly inhibits it. Finally, this paper proposes countermeasures and suggestions to improve the urban resilience of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle.

Multidimensional effect analysis of typical country park construction in Shanghai

In the history of country park studies, little attention has been given to evaluating the vitality of country parks, the comprehensive ecological, living and production benefits of country park construction, and the change in the carbon emission effect. The goal of this article will be to address these three issues. Based on multisource data, a country park vitality index system, regional comprehensive benefit evaluation index system and land use carbon emission estimation model were constructed to conduct quantitative estimation. The results showed that (1) the popularity index rather than the accessibility index was the key component of the vitality of country parks, followed by the connectivity index and the land use diversity index. (2) Ecological space and public open space in most of the whole land consolidation areas that centred on country park construction were significantly expanded, traffic accessibility and housing conditions were significantly improved, population agglomeration and landscape diversity index tended to increase, and the comprehensive goal of synergistic improvement in production, living and ecological benefits was achieved. (3) The whole land consolidation area dominated by country park construction had a better carbon emission reduction effect. Reducing inefficient construction land and increasing forestland are important measures to reduce carbon sources and increase carbon sinks. The results of this study have guiding value for the improvement of country park planning and construction and the optimization of the whole land consolidation area in Shanghai.

Evaluation of the Evolution of the Ecological Security of Oases in Arid Regions and Its Driving Forces: A Case Study of Ejina Oasis in China

Ecological security is an important guarantee of human security and survival, closely related to sustainable development. However, the ecological security evaluation and driving force analysis of oases in arid areas is still insufficient. Ejina Oasis’s ecological security has experienced significant shifts following the centralized management of the Heihe River’s water allocation. Understanding the shifts in ecological security in the Ejina region is paramount for the oasis’s long-term sustainability. This paper employed the Pressure–State–Response (P–S–R) model to select socioeconomic and ecological indicators, establish a comprehensive ecological security evaluation index system, and then analyze the evolving ecological security in the region. Additionally, this paper explored the relationship between changes in the water area, oasis area, and ecological security by using the gray correlation degree to quantify the influence of Land Use Changes (LUCCs) on the overall ecological security. From 2000 to 2012, the ecological security index of Ejina Oasis remained relatively stable at around 0.4. However, a noticeable upward trend in the ecological security index emerged from 2012 to 2020, indicating a shift toward improved ecological security in the region. Critical determinants of this change included the habitat degradation degree, total population, habitat quality, carbon stock, fractional vegetation cover (FVC), the proportion of tertiary industry, and the volume of water discharged from Wolf Heart Mountain. The degree of habitat degradation, fractional vegetation cover (FVC), and the proportion of tertiary industry had the greatest impact on the change in ecological security. The pressure index was dominant in influencing ecological security before 2012 but gradually transitioned to the state index. This study offers a valuable framework for assessing the intricate relationship between LUCCs and ecological security in water-scarce, arid-region oases.

Evaluating the energy-exergy-economy-environment performance of the biomass-photovoltaic-hydrogen integrated energy system based on hybrid multi-criterion decision-making model

Integrating biomass, photovoltaic, and other renewable energy sources for hydrogen production can form a biomass-photovoltaic-hydrogen integrated energy system (BPH-IES). The system features multi-energy storage and joint supply, as well as cascaded utilization, is a promising co-generation way to meet the system's electricity, heat and hydrogen needs, and has significant energy-exergy-economy-environment (4E) performance. Therefore, scientific and effective evaluation of the BPH-IES is an important prerequisite for promoting its development. Firstly, by analyzing the structure of the BPH-IES system, this paper constructs a comprehensive performance evaluation index system of the system from the 4E dimensions. Secondly, a hybrid multi-criterion decision making (MCDM) framework for the 4E comprehensive performance evaluation of the BPH-IES is constructed, in which the anti-entropy weighting method is used to determine the objective weights, the subjective weights are determined by the decision making trial and evaluation laboratory method improved by intuitionistic fuzzy sets, and the final combined weighting results are obtained based on a game-theoretic method that the objective and subjective weights' heterogeneity can be fully minimized. The grey-relation-analysis-based measurement alternatives and ranking according to the compromise solution method is proposed to determine the ranking of alternatives. This paper selected 8 typical BPH-IES cases for 4E evaluation analysis. The results showed that energy performance is the core dimension that reflects the 4E performance of the system, and system's economy indicators such as energy supply income and energy supply cost will also significantly affect the system's 4E performance. Therefore, the 4E performance of BPH-IES can be effectively improved by expanding the system's demand and supply scale and increasing the system's installed proportion of clean energy and hydrogen penetration. Finally, the ranking consistency test, Leave-One-Out analysis and sample separation test demonstrate that the developed hybrid MCDM can ensure robustness meanwhile improve the decision efficiency.

Study on the Measurement of the Development Level of Common Prosperity

Constructing a comprehensive prosperity evaluation index system from the dimensions of “affluence” and “commonality,” consisting of 23 detailed indicators, this study utilizes the entropy method and provincial panel data from 2011 to 2020 to measure the level of common prosperity across Chinese provinces. The research findings indicate an overall upward trend in the common prosperity development level among provinces during the sample period. Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Jiangsu exhibit the highest common prosperity indices at the provincial level. From a spatial perspective, significant disparities exist in the common prosperity levels among different regions. Consequently, policy recommendations are proposed: Tailoring strategies for regional development based on realities, reinforcing regional coordinated development, and promoting the advancement of common prosperity.

Coal and gas protrusion risk evaluation based on cloud model and improved combination of assignment

The proposed study presents an enhanced combination weighting cloud model for accurate assessment of coal and gas outburst risks. Firstly, a comprehensive evaluation index system for coal and gas outburst risks is established, consisting of primary indicators such as coal rock properties and secondary indicators including 13 factors. Secondly, the improved Analytic Hierarchy Process (IAHP) based on the 3-scale method and the improved CRITIC based on indicator correlation weight determination method are employed to determine subjective and objective weights of evaluation indicators respectively. Additionally, the Lagrange multiplier method is introduced to fuse these weights in order to obtain optimal weights. Subsequently, a prominent danger assessment model is developed based on cloud theory. Finally, using a mine in Hebei Province as an example, the results obtained from IAHP combined with improved CRITIC weighting method are compared with those from traditional AHP method and AHP-CRITIC combination weighting method. The findings demonstrate that among all methods considered, IAHP combined with improved CRITIC exhibits superior performance in terms of distribution expectation Ex, entropy value En, and super entropy He within cloud digital features; thus indicating that the risk level of coal and gas outbursts in this particular mine can be classified as general risk. These evaluation results align well with actual observations thereby validating the effectiveness of this approach. Consequently, this constructed model enables rapid yet accurate determination of coal and gas outburst risks within mines.

Efficiency evaluation of China's transportation system considering carbon emissions: Evidence from big data analytics methods

China's transportation sector is a vital link between production and consumption, but it also has issues with low efficiency, high carbon emissions, and technological bottlenecks. To improve efficiency and provide actionable recommendations and strategies, this study first constructs a comprehensive evaluation index system to gauge the transportation sector's inputs using panel data from different Chinese provinces from 2007 to 2021. Within the assessment system, the principal component analysis (PCA) method is used to reduce the dimension of the indexes, thereby yielding a set of adjusted inputs. Subsequently, the transportation system efficiency (TSE) is evaluated using the super-efficiency SBM-DEA model, which includes unexpected outputs such as carbon emissions, and three-stage DEA modifies the efficiency. Then, we calculate the Malmquist-Luenberger index (TML) and its components: technological change (TTC) and technological efficiency change (TEC). Lastly, the influential factors impacting TSE are analyzed via a truncated regression Tobit model. The following are the conclusions: (1) The transportation industry in China exhibits inefficiency, and the average TSE in Stage I and III is 0.91 and 0.93, respectively. TSE is underestimated due to the influence of external environmental factors and inefficiencies in management in Stage I. (2) TSE in the eastern area also produces significant carbon emissions that surpass the national average. At the same time, other regions face efficiency limitations due to geographical constraints and management obstacles. (3) Insufficient technical capacity is a major cause of inefficiency in the transport sector and is prevalent in the northeast, west, and central regions. (4) Population growth and income per capita advancements foster transportation industry development, while increased GDP, fiscal revenues, and traffic accidents contribute to declining efficiency. The study above findings serve as a foundation for regional and national management initiatives and policies to enhance transportation effectiveness.