Green Efforts Research Articles

On the green subsidies in a differentiated market

Government subsidies play an important role in promoting the development of green products. This paper examines the impact of subsidies on competing firms, consumers and the environment in a horizontally differentiated market. Taking all stakeholders into consideration, the optimal subsidy level is solved to maximize social welfare. Compared with the no subsidy case, we show that subsidies always make consumers better, however, this welfare improvement may come at the expense of firm profits and environmental benefits. Specifically, when products are highly substitutable and consumers’ environmental awareness is great, subsidies can induce competing firms to over-invest in green R&D and produce more quantities and thus leading to reduced firm profits. Moreover, subsidies would widen the gap between asymmetric firms, making those firms in a weak competitive position even more disadvantaged. As for the environment, we find that for industries with high levels of emissions per-unit of output, the negative effect of subsidies to induce more production/consumption would dominate the positive effect of the improvement in product greenness, leading to environmental degradation. As a result, subsidies are optimal for clean industries, while punitive policies that limit production and consumption may be more effective for those dirty industries. We also compare ad valorem subsidies and green R&D subsidies, showing that for the same amount of subsidies, an ad valorem subsidy is more in the interest of firms, while consumers are better off under the R&D subsidy policy as it increases the competition in green efforts more directly.

Too green to be true? Forging a climate consensus at the European Central Bank

ABSTRACT In its 2021 strategy review, the European Central Bank's Governing Council unanimously decided to make climate change one of its priorities for the coming years. In this article, we try to understand how this change was achieved. To do so, we rely on mixed methods, studying ECB policies, speeches, exchanges with the European Parliament, and conducting semi-structured interviews. We present a detailed account of the rapid changes within the ECB regarding the climate challenge, and attempt to unpack its conditions of possibility. We show that climate integration results from the combination and hybridisation of internal dynamics and external pressures. On the one hand, the renewal of the Executive Board and modifications in organisational dynamics secured a growing coalition for a change. On the other, pressures from politicians, NGOs, academics and citizens pushed the institution to develop its expertise and provided willing insiders with further argumentative resources to push their green agenda. While these two intertwined dynamics have allowed ‘green doves’ to forge a consensus around the climate action plan, disagreements remain within the Governing Council on the scope and shape of future greening efforts.

Examining the green factors affecting environmental performance in small and medium-sized enterprises: A mediating essence of green creativity.

Despite a large amount of literature on the management and sustainability of green enterprises, representatives' contributions to environmental challenges have received scant attention. This study purposefully assesses how managers' ecological expertise and ability to transform organizations' leadership practices into more environmentally friendly ones, with the help of green creativity (GC) as a mediating factor. The study utilizes partial least square structural equation modeling to examine the perceptions of 400 respondents in various leadership roles in the small and medium businesses industry. The study's findings point to the beneficial impacts of green knowledge (GK), green transformational leadership (GTL), and GC on environmental performance (EP). GC also appears to perform a meaningful mediating role in the links between GK and EP, GTL, and EP. The primary takeaway from recent research is that participants in the sector may be able to respond with green efforts that are specific to their businesses with the support of managers' environmental concerns. There is a discussion on practice recommendations and future directions.

Exploring Small Fashion Retailers' Green Efforts in Supply Chain Management and Coping Strategies During COVID-19

Few studies have investigated the engagement of America's small businesses in sustainability. The purpose of this study was to explore the current business model of small fashion retailers, target customers, product distribution channels, sources of revenue, and green efforts in supply chain management based on the Six-R framework. This study also investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on small fashion businesses. Qualitative data were gathered through in-depth interviews of owners/employees of four small fashion retailers. Interview findings revealed that small fashion retailers implemented green supply chain practices through recycling, reusing, and reducing. Findings indicated that cost and limited resources challenged the retailers in making green efforts. The results suggest small fashion retailers can improve sustainability engagement by re-designing, recovering, and remanufacturing products in the operational and manufacturing processes. COVID-19 pushed the retailers to deal with their problems in new and creative ways.

Sustaining Green Efforts: How Tech Parks in Bangalore Address Environmental Crises

Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka is known as the Silicon Valley of India for the high number of ICT(Information and Communications Technology) companies and tech parks it has. The ICT industry has providedmillions of people with jobs in this city and has resulted in a population explosion, which has over time led toBangalore facing infrastructural crises along with strain on its natural resources. This paper discusses howsustainable architecture can set up a model for sustainability in perpetuity in Bangalore’s tech parks in the 21 stcentury.

Identifying Green Gentrification in Chongqing Central Park Based on Price Feature Model

As part of urban planning, urban greening plays a significant role in mediating urban development and improving quality of life for residents. However, studies have indicated that urban greening efforts may result in green gentrification, in which the creation of urban green spaces improve the quality of life of residents on the one hand, and increases the house prices in the surrounding area, thereby preventing low-income residents enjoying the ecological environment benefits. Even though, there are only a few studies that examine the connection between green gentrification and urban greenery in China. Moreover, there is a need for further investigation into the manifestations and characteristics of green gentrification and whether it always results in displacement. Therefore, we chose Chongqing Central Park as the study area. The results demonstrated that the house prices have increased exponentially over the past ten years in this area, the neighborhood is largely populated by middle- and high-income individuals, and residents who were more than 30 minutes away from the park no longer enjoyed it as often. By using a price feature model, ecological, architectural, and neighborhood features were correlated with house prices, and it was found that the distance to the park correlated more significantly with house prices. As a result, Chongqing Central Park area has witnessed a green gentrification process in the last decade, which reflects the green paradox to some extent, that is, urban greening brings high quality ecological environment but also reduce the equity of human living conditions. Therefore, we suggest taking social impacts of ecological construction into account while ensuring sustainable urban development in urban greening efforts.

Green innovation of state-owned oil and gas enterprises in BRICS countries: a review of performance

ABSTRACT State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are a major force in energy markets in BRICS countries, including in national energy innovation systems. In this research, we investigate whether some of the largest oil and gas SOEs in BRICS countries – Brazil’s Petrobras, Russia’s Gazprom, India’s ONGC, China’s PetroChina, and South Africa’s PetroSA – are greening their innovation to foster low-carbon solutions in line with shifting government Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) on climate change. We compare the innovation priorities of oil and gas SOE firms in these countries, and specifically their efforts in clean energy from 2005 to 2020. Using an original data set, we set forth case studies on five SOEs and highlight differences in their approaches across a number of different features: the level of government ownership; firms’ revenues and financial health; national government policy; and global oil prices. We assess factors influencing performance in clean energy innovation and study each firm’s success in registering patents for specifically targeted energy technologies. Our findings show that all five SOEs demonstrate only modest efforts in greening of their energy innovation outcomes. We observe their heavy reliance on oil revenues to finance innovation and note how ongoing responsibility to avoid oil and gas shortages is stifling green innovation. We recommend policy avenues for governments to realign SOE practices with climate action and specifically NDCs.

Pricing Decisions with Effect of Advertisement and Greening Efforts for a Greengocer

Organic farming has become popular and in demand among health-conscious people nowadays. Organic vegetables are grown using organic seeds and natural fertilizers. People have turned to using organic food products not only due to them being fresh and full of nutrition but also being eco-friendly. The present study is carried out to outline pricing decisions for a greengrocer of organic products. The grocer grows and sells fresh vegetables with the input of greening efforts. The grocer uses advertisements to promote sales. Product demand is influenced by the selling price of the product, greening efforts, and advertising efforts. The problem is formulated into a mathematical model to obtain optimum policies to maximize the total profit of the greengrocer. The model is validated by an illustration. The impact of small-scale changes in inventory parameters on decision variables is studied to analyze managerial aspects. The results show that the sales volume increases due to advertisements and greening efforts up to a certain level. Once the peak sales level is achieved, such investments are of no use, and they cause a drop in overall profit. The selling price of the product can be reduced in the absence of advertisement efforts, but, eventually, it causes a fall in the sales volume.

A reflection of greenwashing practices in the hospitality industry: a scoping review

PurposeThis review aims to put forth a conceptual understanding of greenwashing. It also identifies the antecedents and consequences of customer perceptions of greenwashing in the hospitality industry in the recent context, which has remained superficial and fragmented in previous studies.Design/methodology/approachPublished literature between the years 2000 and 2022 was examined, following the scoping review approach. After screening out irrelevant and duplicate literature, a total of 54 published literature items were considered.FindingsDespite a profound understanding of customer perceptions of greenwashing, the findings show that the majority of customer perceptions of greenwashing are determined by the green efforts of hotel operators, through means such as green knowledge sharing, green marketing, the disclosure of green information, resource conservation claims and environmental certification. Additionally, customer perceptions of greenwashing determine a variety of customer green behaviors where customer green attitude plays an intervening role.Practical implicationsA benefit of the proposed conceptual model for hospitality stakeholders is that it aids in understanding customer suspicion regarding the legitimacy of hotel green practices. The conceptual model of this review, and a 2 × 3 matrix on hotel environmental performance and communication, provides a theoretical lens for scholars and practitioners in the hospitality industry to develop effective green strategies and practices, reducing customer perceptions of greenwashing while positively influencing customer green behavior. This review presents a launching platform from which research on greenwashing in the hospitality industry can skyrocket.Originality/valueIn previous studies, the conceptual understanding of greenwashing in hospitality has remained inconsistent, shallow and mixed. This review identifies the different and previously deeply underexplored antecedents and consequences of customer perceptions of greenwashing and presents them in a conceptual model.

Green or non-green: A game to introduce decision making under fairness concerns

As such problems as scarcity of resources and environmental pollution have become increasingly prominent, the concept of emerging green products has been gradually entering the consciousness of manufacturers and retailers. However, will the supply chain members challenged by the high cost of green products be willing to make the transition to green production? To answer this question, this paper studies the production and sales decisions made by the manufacturers and retailers when taking the production of both common products and green products into consideration. In terms of product selection, the model of fairness and neutrality concerns is constructed and carefully studied. It is found in this study that with all the manufacturers under capacity constraints, when the manufacturers produce common products, their fairness concerns will increase their own utility but damage that of their downstream partners; when it comes to green products, the fairness concerns of the retailers will not decrease the utility of the manufacturers, which is the same case as the fairness-neutral retailers, but the manufacturers will be provoked to maximize their utility by their fairness concerns; the optimal level of green efforts by manufacturers and retailers should be obtained by measuring the cost coefficients of both parties. These conclusions will not only help improve the green level of the supply chain but also well exhibit the friendly development of surrounding conditions.

The impact of coercive pressure and ethical responsibility on cross-functional green management and firm performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand whether firms are driven by external pressure or intrinsic value to conduct green management; this study examines the effects of coercive pressure and ethical responsibility on cross-functional green strategy alignment (GSA) and green process coordination (GPC), and in turn, market and environmental performance.Design/methodology/approachBased on data from 206 Chinese manufacturers, this study empirically tests the proposed relationships using structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results highlight the role of coercive pressure in promoting both GSA and GPC that represent functional green efforts at both strategic and operational levels, indicating firms’ critical concern of obtaining external legitimacy from stakeholders. Ethical responsibility as an intrinsic value promotes GPC that demands joint working from different functions at the operational level. Besides, the authors find that GSA improves market and environmental performance, whereas GPC only enhances environmental performance.Originality/valueThis study adds to the knowledge of the drivers of cross-functional green management from external pressure and intrinsic value perspectives. The findings are also fruitful for practitioners and policymakers.

Coordinating double-level sustainability effort in a sustainable supply chain under cap-and-trade regulation

In recent decades, due to the growing sustainable development concerns, the supply chains members, such as manufacturers and retailers, are interested in investing in environmental sustainability and social sustainability issues to gain more market share in today’s competitive business environment. This paper contributes to the literature by proposing double-level sustainability effort in a sustainable supply chain consists of one manufacturer and one retailer under the cap-and-trade regulation. The manufacturer invests in the technology to reduce carbon emissions and improve the quality of products. On the other hand, the retailer invests in green effort while decides on its periodic review order-up-to-level replenishment policy. Under such a case, both the manufacturer’s and the retailer’s decisions not only affect their individual profitability but also impact on the whole supply chain performance and sustainability level. Using game-theoretic mathematical modeling, the double-level sustainability effort is first analyzed under the decentralized and centralized structures. Then, a compensation-based wholesale price contract is introduced to coordinate the sustainable supply chain under the cap-and-trade regulation. The surplus profit obtained under the coordination plan is shared between the manufacturer and retailer depending on their bargaining power. The data generated based on the assumptions of a pharmaceutical case study is applied to indicate the applicability of developed models. The results illustrate that the developed coordinated system simultaneously enhances the whole sustainable supply chain performance from the social, environmental, and economic points of view.

Early evaluation of use of fermented chicken manure products in practice of apple nutrient management

According to the Green Deal efforts, the importance and relevance of organic fertilization will increase in the near future. Therefore, the investigation of the effects of different organic fertilizers on soil productivity and nutrient supply is a priority area of agricultural research. Organic fertilizer experiment was conducted in an eight-year-old apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) orchard at Debrecen-Pallag. In the trial Pinova cultivar was used. In this study, two different fermented chicken manure products were added to the soil (in 20 cm depth) to test their effects on soil nutrient status, plant uptake and fruit quality. It was found that the applied treatments slightly increased the pH and nutrient levels in almost all cases, but significant effect was not observed in all treatments compared to the control. Leaf nutrient contents (N, P, K, Ca and Mg) were measured in the experiment. Leaf nutrient status was not affected by the fermented chicken manure treatments. However, used treatments had strong effects on the fruit characteristics and inner parameters, such as fruit diameter and Brix value. Moreover, it was established that the applied organic fertilizers increased the yield significantly.

Not by trees alone: Centering community in urban forestry

Urban forestry and urban greening efforts are blossoming as cities and towns work to enhance their open spaces as green infrastructure that provides multiple benefits. This work has reached new urgency given the need for both high-performance landscapes that can mitigate the effects of climate change and accessible, safe greenspaces that can support community well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, activists, practitioners, scholars, and decision-makers--particularly those within Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and frontline communities who bear the brunt of negative impacts--are calling for the need to attend to environmental justice implications of greening efforts. Following a review of the literature, we draw upon our observations as researchers embedded in the field of urban and community forestry to offer three themes and related guiding questions that can help advance that work: 1) supporting human capacity and care (investments in people and organizations); 2) community organizing beyond the green silo (intersectional and cross-sectoral approaches); and 3) re-envisioning the functions of the urban forest (productive systems and biocultural approaches). Our perspective is inspired by the work of residents, practitioners, and decision-makers who are engaging in reflection and innovation in pursuit of “just cities” that can enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion as critical to and inseparable from sustainability and resilience. We suggest that the field of urban forestry draw upon a community forestry ethos as we center the needs, capacities, and priorities of historically marginalized communities at the heart of the work of creating more just, sustainable cities.

Coordinating a supplier–retailer JELS model considering product quality assessment and green retailing

Environmental awareness among the people is constantly increasing, which has resulted in massive pressure on companies from various stakeholders including the government and consumers to mitigate the detrimental effects on the environment. This work deals with a joint economic lot size (JELS) model to enhance the greening efforts of a product that flows along a two-level supply chain (supplier–retailer). Both selling price and greening effort level of the product influence the market demand. Here we assume that every individual lot shipped to the retailer carries some random defective items. Each lot received by the retailer goes through an error-free sub-lot sampled inspection process to remove the defective items. A fraction of faulty items are classified as usable and are sold at a salvage value and the rest items are disposed of. The retailer has to bear per item penalty cost for selling the uninspected defective items. We develop the profit function under three decision-making scenarios: centralized, decentralized, and coordinated. Coordination is made based on a trade-credit scheme under which the retailer changes his/her optimal decisions according to a centralized policy. We obtain a minimum and maximum credit period duration which encourages both the retailer and the supplier to follow the coordinated decision-making policy. The coordinated model suggests that more emphasis should be given to the greening effort level for higher profit. It is observed that, in many cases, a sub-lot inspection gives better results compared to a full lot inspection.

Climate justice pedagogies in green building curriculum

This article draws on environmental justice frameworks located in urban planning (Agyeman et al., 2002; Pellow, 2007) and critical place inquiry (Tuck & McKenzie, 2014) to focus on the relationship between green building curriculum, career and technical education, and climate justice. Green building—a rapidly growing field within the architecture, planning, and design fields—seeks to mitigate the consequences of climate change by reducing the built environment’s impact on the natural world. Green building involves technical learning and is often carried out by credentialed professionals. We thus ask, how do we advance climate justice through green building curricula? We draw insights from a green building education program from a Career and Technical Education classroom to discuss the need to engage high school students’ knowledge about the connectivity between their communities and green building plans. We identify the consideration of erasure and futurities in green building curricular efforts, youth as co-planners and co-designers, and organizational learning and change as central to reimagining responses to ecological precarity in justice oriented-ways.

Values, personality traits, and packaging‐free shopping: A mixed‐method approach

AbstractThis research examines packaging‐free shopping, which contributes to reducing the negative impact of plastic packaging on the environment, and its’ relationship with green consumption values, value consciousness, and psychological traits. A mixed‐methods approach is adopted with quantitative followed by qualitative research. Study 1 recruits 240 respondents from social media and the lead author's university website to examine different factors that increase consumers’ likelihood of packaging‐free shopping. Study 2 recruits packaging‐free shoppers from Facebook Pages, explores these findings and provides further insights. Study 1 finds that consumers are driven more by green consumer values than by value consciousness, and consumers who are more conscientious are more likely to do packaging‐free shopping. Study 2 supports this by finding that green consumer values drive packaging‐free shopping, but this in only one part of their green efforts. The research contributes by illustrating the importance of conscientiousness specifically in the domain of packaging‐free shopping and that these packaging‐free shoppers are not driven in terms of value for money but by addressing their green consumer values. We recommend that packaging‐free retailers and policy makers utilize promotional efforts to communicate how packaging‐free shopping provides a balance with consumers’ green values for these shoppers, how it fits in with their other green efforts, and how these shopping efforts are making a difference in helping the environment.

A Data-Driven Approach for Electric Energy Equipment Using Wireless Sensing Technology in the Context of Carbon Neutrality

In this paper, we use wireless sensing technology to conduct an in-depth study and analysis of data-driven power energy equipment in the context of carbon neutrality. For the high-order uncertainty of renewable energy power generation and the nonlinearity of the tidal equation, a set of orthogonal bases under arbitrary probability space can be constructed by itself using the high-order information of renewable energy power generation statistics, and then, polynomials fit the state variables such as voltage in the tidal equation using the orthogonal bases and calculate the fitting parameters using the stochastic Gallatin integration method. Based on the analysis of the online monitoring project of the main power equipment in the substation, a substation power equipment condition monitoring system is designed to realize the real-time monitoring of the temperature status of power equipment, substation smoke and temperature, and humidity environment, and the feasibility and advanced of the system are verified by elaborating the analysis. Using wireless transmission to send real-time temperature information to the monitoring background, the infrared thermal imaging online monitoring system is designed around the front-end data acquisition system, transmission network, background data processing, and display module. Saving-investment equilibrium means that total investment equals total savings; government budget balance can be achieved through government savings or deficits. When both supply chain approaches enter into the same environmental competition, the added value that consumers value the product because of the carbon-neutral approach becomes smaller in the coefficient constraint of green effort investment cost due to the competition between the two supply chains, which in turn increases the green investment cost of the supply chain with the green effort carbon-neutral approach, indicating that in the case of competition, consumers, when faced with two products produced by two supply chains, are interested in the product with the carbon-neutral approach has less value-added, and some of the demand is shifted to the product not produced with the carbon-neutral approach.

Effectiveness of carbon tax and congestion cost in improving the airline industry greening level and welfare: A case of two competing airlines

In this paper, we examine the combined impact of carbon-tax policy, congestion cost and greening investment decisions of airlines. We model a Bertrand duopoly sequential move game to analyze the impact of airlines' decisions on ticket fare and greening effort, as they contemplate upon the cost option of greening investment and carbon tax. We model a duopoly market where incumbents and new entrant airlines compete in similar market. Our findings suggest that marginal utility of flight frequency decreases with ‘congestion toll’. In its absence, airlines have the opportunity to operate smaller aircrafts with high frequency. Secondly, our findings also suggest that airlines have higher ‘greening interest’ when emission taxes are imposed; without which, airlines are reluctant to invest in green technology. Additionally, our numerical simulations suggest that carbon tax, combined with congestion cost, may be used as an effective instrument to improve an airline's social welfare, and drive it towards green development. In fact, an efficient investment strategy can guide an airline to use greening services for their competitive advantage.

Use of nature-based schoolyards predicts students’ perceptions of schoolyards as places to support learning, play, and mental health

Although green schoolyards provide many benefits to children and communities, little research explores students’ perceptions of these benefits and how natural elements (e.g. gardens, trees) and associated use shape student experience. We examine the relationship between nature-based attributes, nature-based activities, and teacher-led activities with students’ perceptions of schoolyards’ benefits to self (e.g. feeling calm, good place to learn) and to community (e.g. contributions to cleaner water, increased biodiversity). We measured 199 3rd -6th grade students’ perceptions of schoolyards’ benefits from 9 schools in Raleigh, North Carolina. Overall, students viewed schoolyards positively, and recognized more benefits to self than community. We found that the relationship between the presence of nature-based attributes and students’ positive feelings was limited. Instead, we found that nature-based activities and teacher-led activities had a positive relationship with students’ positive feelings. Our findings suggest that school greening efforts need to be paired with policies and curricular practices to encourage interaction with natural elements to ensure benefits are fully realized by students. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2022.2032612 .